Burden And Correlates of Multimorbidity Among Patients Attending a Tertiary Eye Care Center in Odisha, India

Background Multimorbidity, the existence of two or more chronic health conditions in the same individual, may pose a significant challenge for individuals having any ophthalmic diseases. Eye conditions are remarkably common, but the presence of other chronic conditions may lead to higher healthcare use, higher expenditure, impaired quality of life, and ultimately higher morbidity. Our study provides data on multimorbidity, its correlates, and the quality of life among patients attending an eye care setting. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 390 adult patients presenting to the out-patient department (OPD) of an eye care setup. A Multimorbidity assessment questionnaire for primary care (MAQ-PC) was used for data collection. We calculated the multimorbidity percentage among patients with any ophthalmologic conditions and assessed their quality of life. Data were analyzed using STATA 16. Results We found that 40.3% (n = 390, CI: 35.35–45.31) of the ophthalmologic outpatients had multimorbidity. The top leading chronic conditions reported were hypertension (69.49%, n = 390) and diabetes (38.21%, n = 390), and the top leading eye conditions were cataracts (42.31%, n = 390) and diabetic retinopathy (23.08%, n = 390). A positive association was also seen with a p-value < 0.05 between eye multimorbidity and quality of life (QoL), i.e, a poor QoL was found among individuals having both eye disorder and multimorbidity. Conclusions Multimorbidity is highly prevalent in ophthalmologic patients such as cataracts and diabetic retinopathy with a deteriorated QoL, which may negatively impact clinical outcomes. The concept of multimorbidity and its patterns is yet to be explored, and well-integrated into ophthalmologic care settings.