Multimorbidity in a cohort of middle-aged women: Risk factors and disease clustering

Abstract Objective We aimed to evaluate which risk factors in middle-aged women are associated with higher risk of multimorbidity in older age. Study design We conducted a prospective cohort study from 1990 to 1993 in Santiago de Chile, Chile among women aged 40-59 (at baseline). Diagnosed illnesses were retrieved from national health records in 2020. Main outcome measures : Clinical and laboratory evaluation was conducted. Results 1,066 women were followed-up for a mean of 27.8 years, after which 49.7% presented multimorbidity. These women, as compared with those without multimorbidity, were more likely at baseline to have had obesity (20.4% vs. 8.6%, p  Conclusions Multimorbidity was highly prevalent in this older female population. Obesity in middle-aged women was the strongest risk factor for multimorbidity at older age. These results are relevant for Chile and other countries with similar population profiles.