The Measurement of Multiple Chronic Diseases--A Systematic Review on Existing Multimorbidity Indices

Multimorbidity, defined as the coexistence of 2 or more chronic diseases, is a common phenomenon especially in older people. Numerous efforts to establish a standardized instrument to assess the level of multimorbidity have failed until now, and indices are primarily characterized by their high heterogeneity. Thus, the objective is to provide a comprehensive overview on existing instruments on the basis of a systematic literature review.

The review was performed in MedLine. All articles published between January 1, 1960 and August 31, 2009 in German or English language, with the primary focus either on the development of a weighted index or on the effect of multimorbidity on different outcomes, were identified.