Worldwide, live expectancy has increased due to a better disease prevention and management. However, as populations age, the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, chronic obstructive disease and depression, increases, being this conditions the main all cause death.

Despite the fact that NCD usually co-exist in groups of multi-morbidities, they have only been recently recognized in policies and financing as a priority. In the present project, the global health problem of multi-morbidity will be addressed. Multi-morbidity refers to the concept that people develop more than one chronic condition, which can interact with other conditions to complicate outcomes and health care. The general objective is to strengthen the collaborative links with University College London (UCL) in order to determine patterns and distribution of the multi-morbidity status with data from CRONICAS, PERU MIGRANT and GECo cohorts (Part I); The results of this first part will be useful to initiate Part II in which the interaction between acute infections and groups of multi-morbidities will be explored using quantitative and qualitative methods in a sub-sample of the CHRONIC cohort.

Aim:

To expand initial links between UCL and UPCH, building sustainable capacity to tackle the global challenge of multi-morbidity and the neglected area of interaction between NCDs and acute infections.

Study design:

The research project consists of 3 parts:

1. Secondary data analysis of the CRONICAS, PERU MIGRANT and GECo cohorts in order to determine patterns of multi-morbidity in different scenarios in Peru.
2. Cross-sectional study in which a survey will be applied to people who have two or more chronic conditions in order to collect information on infectious diseases, their frequency and intensity.
3. Qualitative study based on a semi-structured interview in which perceptions about the occurrence of infectious diseases in people with two or more chronic conditions will be explored.

Result:

Policy Brief: Policy_Brief_Multi-morbilidad

Contact:

J Jaime Miranda, MD, MSc, PhD
jaime.miranda@upch.pe