Multimorbidity patterns in people with Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract Background Multimorbidity is highly impactful for older adults, especially when it co‐occurs with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, scarce evidence is available about comorbid conditions co‐occurring with AD. We aimed to identify the most prevalent comorbid conditions and examine the common multimorbidity patterns in patients with AD. Method Using electronic health records of a university hospital, we extracted data from 2,646 older adults with AD (ICD‐10) using Calderón‐Larrañaga’s inventory of chronic conditions. Leverage correlation was performed to detect multimorbidity patterns. Result AD patients had on average 13 comorbid conditions and 50% of them had at least 10 comorbid conditions co‐occurring with AD. Hypertension (51.7%), lipoprotein metabolism disorders and other lipidemia (35%), depression (33.9%), general mental disorders (31.96%), sleep disorders (26%), urinary disorders (25.3%), anemia (24.6%), joint disorders (23.19%), chronic kidney disease (21.25%), and other functional intestinal disorders (20.66%) were the top 10 prevalent comorbid conditions. The common multimorbidity patterns were “disorders of lipoprotein metabolism and other lipidemia” and “hypertension” (frequency [n = 747, 30%]; leverage:0.09), followed by “hypertension” and “hypertensive kidney disease” (frequency [n = 189, 8%]; leverage:0.06), “presence of cardiac and vascular implants and grafts” and “disorders of lipoprotein metabolism and other lipidemias” (frequency [n = 181,7%; leverage:0.05), and “Type 2 diabetes” and “hypertension (frequency [n = 181,7%; leverage:0.05).” Conclusion Our results align with prior studies that cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and depression are common conditions in people with AD. These findings might support future studies investigating the mechanisms linking multimorbidity to AD, which ultimately can guide preventive actions and comprehensive approaches for managing these co‐occurring conditions.