Multimorbidity and health related quality of life in midlife - a longitudinal study from Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966
Junttila, Oili; Pesonen, Paula; Timonen, Markku; Auvinen, Juha (2025-04-25)
Taylor & Francis
25.04.2025
Junttila, O., Pesonen, P., Timonen, M., & Auvinen, J. (2025). Multimorbidity and health related quality of life in midlife – a longitudinal study from Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/02813432.2025.2492296.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202504282957
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202504282957
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Aim
Multimorbidity is a major public health concern. According to previous studies, multimorbidity has been shown to be associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, existing data concerning high income countries are mainly based on cross-sectional studies. Consequently, longitudinal investigations have been called for. There exist several definitions of multimorbidity in previous population studies, and usually definition is based on self-reported symptoms or diseases or included only few diagnoses. This study aimed to examine how the number of doctor-diagnosed chronic diseases influences HRQoL over time in a population-based setting.
Methods
At 31 and 46 years, participants (n = 3573) of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 answered 15-Dimensional HRQoL questionnaire (15D). Mean 15D-Scores (varies between 0 and 1) were counted according to the number of 43 chosen chronic diseases. These diseases were found and the definition of multimorbidity was measured by a method using both self-reported doctor-diagnosed and register-based chronic diseases.
Results
In both genders, the mean difference of 15D-Scores increased monotonously in line with the increasing number of new emerging diseases diagnosed for 15 years of follow-up from the age of 31–46 years (p < .05). Furthermore, the more diseases the patient had at the age of 31, the more mean 15D-Scores decreased when having more new emerging diseases at the age of 46.
Conclusions
In general, HRQoL decreased during 15-year follow-up for everyone. Furthermore, decrease in the quality of life is significantly associated with multimorbidity in this longitudinal setting.
Aim
Multimorbidity is a major public health concern. According to previous studies, multimorbidity has been shown to be associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, existing data concerning high income countries are mainly based on cross-sectional studies. Consequently, longitudinal investigations have been called for. There exist several definitions of multimorbidity in previous population studies, and usually definition is based on self-reported symptoms or diseases or included only few diagnoses. This study aimed to examine how the number of doctor-diagnosed chronic diseases influences HRQoL over time in a population-based setting.
Methods
At 31 and 46 years, participants (n = 3573) of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 answered 15-Dimensional HRQoL questionnaire (15D). Mean 15D-Scores (varies between 0 and 1) were counted according to the number of 43 chosen chronic diseases. These diseases were found and the definition of multimorbidity was measured by a method using both self-reported doctor-diagnosed and register-based chronic diseases.
Results
In both genders, the mean difference of 15D-Scores increased monotonously in line with the increasing number of new emerging diseases diagnosed for 15 years of follow-up from the age of 31–46 years (p < .05). Furthermore, the more diseases the patient had at the age of 31, the more mean 15D-Scores decreased when having more new emerging diseases at the age of 46.
Conclusions
In general, HRQoL decreased during 15-year follow-up for everyone. Furthermore, decrease in the quality of life is significantly associated with multimorbidity in this longitudinal setting.
Kokoelmat
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