Co-morbidity Rates Among Seniors Set to Double by 2035

In an aging world, a growing proportion of the population will be over the age of 65 and while people are living longer, they are not always doing so in good health.  In fact, a recent study published in the British Geriatric Society journal Age and Ageing found that the rate of elderly adults diagnosed with four or more diseases will double between 2015 and 2035.

The number of older adults with complex co-morbidities including cancer, diabetes and arthritis are expected to jump the most significantly and even young-old seniors, between 65 and 74 years of age, will likely be diagnosed with two or three diseases.  Elderly adults over the age of 85 are much more likely to have four or more co-existing diseases, excluding dementia and depression, which will put healthcare systems under tremendous stress.

Treating multi-morbidity is complex and requires a different approach that the current single-disease focused health care models most systems currently operate under.  Researchers stress that to meet the health care needs of a growing older population, changes in the delivery of care needs to start happening, now.  Without a different approach to geriatric medicine, hospital stays will continue to lengthen and rates of re-admission will continue to grow, placing a huge financial and staffing burden on the existing health care systems.

Why are so many seniors living with multiple illnesses today?  It’s more than just the fact that older adults are living longer and surviving heart attacks, strokes and other once-fatal diseases as result of improved medical interventions.  Increased rates of physical inactivity and obesity are contributing factors to many diseases that older adults frequently are diagnosed with over the age of 65.   

The take-away?  Yes, you may be able to live longer with multiple health care challenges but lifestyle habits like diet and exercise are still the pillars of aging well and being able to fully participate in life even in very old age.   

To read the full study, follow this link to the BGS journal Age and Ageing, published January 2018.

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