AUTHOR=Kohler Stefan , Bärnighausen Till , Kazonda Patrick , Leyna Germana H. , Lohmann Julia , Killewo Japhet , Rohr Julia K. , Stieglitz Laura-Marie , Paul Nicolas 

TITLE=Chronic Conditions and Multimorbidity Among Middle-Aged and Elderly Peri-Urban Dwellers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 69 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2024.1606387

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2024.1606387

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Understanding the burden of chronic conditions can help prepare health systems for aging populations. We studied 2246 men and women aged ≥40 years in the Dar es Salaam Urban Cohort Study from June 2017 to July 2018. The assessment of 17 chronic conditions was based on self-report, body measurement, blood tests, and screening instruments. Hypertension (51.3%), anemia (34.1%), obesity (32.2%), diabetes (31.6%), depressive symptoms (31.5%), low grip strength (21.2%), and ischemic heart disease (11.9%) were widely present chronic conditions. Multimorbidity was common (73.7%). Women had higher odds of obesity, ischemic heart disease, and high cholesterol (adjusted OR: 2.08-4.16) and lower odds of underweight, low grip strength, alcohol problems, and smoking (adjusted OR: 0.04-0.45). Ten years of age were associated with higher odds of low grip strength, cognitive problems, hypertension, kidney disease chronic cough, diabetes, high cholesterol, ischemic heart disease, and multimorbidity (adjusted OR: 1.21-1.81) and lower odds of HIV infection (adjusted OR: 0.51). We found a higher prevalence of multimorbidity than previously estimated for middle-aged and elderly people in sub-Saharan Africa. The conditions underlying multimorbidity differed between men and women.