Longitudinal Association of Physical-Psychological-Cognitive Multimorbidity With Health Care Utilization and…

Cohort studyAsia-Pacific journal of public health· Jun 2026

Longitudinal Association of Physical-Psychological-Cognitive Multimorbidity With Health Care Utilization and Costs Among Middle-Aged and Older People in China.

Xiaohan Qu, Qian Wang, Hui Xue … Lijun Fan

Multimorbidity & PolypharmacyCohort studyPrognosisQ3IF 0.8

Physical-psychological-cognitive multimorbidity linked to 73% higher odds of inpatient visits

Longitudinal Association of Physical-Psychological-Cognitive Multimorbidity With Health Care Utilization and Costs Among Middle-Aged and Older People in China.

Xiaohan Qu … Lijun Fan

Asia-Pacific journal of public health · Jun 2026 · Q3 in General Medicine

Background

Despite its prevalence, the health care burden of co-occurring physical, psychological, and cognitive (PPC) disorders remains unclear.

Purpose

This study examines impact of different PPC-multimorbidity patterns on health care utilization and costs among 12 643 middle-aged and older Chinese adults using longitudinal data (China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011-2020).

Methods

We measured outpatient/inpatient utilization (any visit/number of visits) and out-of-pocket (OOP) costs via self-reports.

n = 12 643 middle-aged and older

OR 1.73

Results

OR 1.73

physical, psychological, and cognitive multimorbidity raised odds of hospital admission

n = 12 643 middle-aged and older

More results

Increasing coexisting PPC types progressively amplified health care burden (dose-response P -trend < .001).

Pattern-specific analyses demonstrated heterogeneous impacts, with nearly all PPC-multimorbidity combinations elevating health care demands.

In conclusion, PPC-multimorbidity imposes a substantial health care burden.

“

Conclusion

These findings advance multimorbidity conceptualization beyond simple disease counts, emphasizing the need to address distinct multimorbidity patterns and their complex interactions.

Longitudinal Association of Physical-Psychological-Cognitive Multimorbidity With Health Care Utilization and Costs Among Middle-Aged and Older People in China.

Longitudinal Association of Physical-Psychological-Cognitive Multimorbidity With Health Care Utilization and Costs Among Middle-Aged and Older People in China.

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