Prevalence, patterns and associated behavioural risk factors of multimorbidity in rural India: Cross-sectional analysis from the Andhra Pradesh Children and Parents Study (APCAPS).

Previous studies have focused on urban populations and older adults, who do not represent the majority of those at risk.

Of 5332 adult participants (mean age 35.5 years, standard deviation 13.8 years) included in the analysis, 14.2% had multimorbidity, the prevalence of which increased steeply with age.

We found one multimorbidity pattern of "anaemia and hypertension" (n = 220, 4.1%).

Physical inactivity (aOR: 2.07 [95% CI: 1.52-2.82]) was associated with higher odds of having this multimorbidity pattern, with no associations found for the other behavioural risk factors.