Guiding Principles for the Care of Older Adults with Multimorbidity: An Approach for Clinicians

One of the greatest challenges in geriatrics is providing optimal care for older adults with multiple chronic conditions, or "multimorbidity."1-4 More than 50% of older adults have three or more chronic diseases. The heterogeneous patterns and severity of conditions produce distinctive cumulative effects for each individual.5 Multimorbidity is associated with many adverse consequences, including death, disability, institutionalization, greater use of healthcare resources, poorer quality of life, and higher rates of adverse effects of treatment or interventions.1 Comprehensive strategies for healthcare delivery that are not disease specific, as well as interventions that target geriatric syndromes common in…