Multimorbidity burden for adults seeking care in community health centers living in different areas of social deprivation

Context: Neighborhood characteristics play an important role in health outcomes, especially for people who access care in community health centers (CHCs). Objective: This study evaluates rates of patient-level multimorbidity ([greater than or equal to] 2 chronic diseases) among CHC patients living in different areas of community-level social deprivation. Study Design and Analysis: Retrospective cohort study using Poisson mixed effects regression of the rates of morbidities by patient- and community- level characteristics including the social deprivation index (SDI). SDI is a composite measure of community-level income, education, employment, housing, household characteristics, transportation, and demographics. Morbidities included 22 chronic diseases recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services Multiple Chronic Conditions framework. Setting or Dataset: 1,412,038 patients from 9,362 Zip Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) living in 27 states. Population Studied: Patients, [greater than or equal to] 45 years from the OCHIN and HCN practice-based research networks. Intervention/Instrument: SDI (0-100) was categorized into quartiles using the patient's ZCTA at last known address. Higher SDI quartiles denote more deprivation. Outcome Measures: Rates of morbidities at date of last known address. Results: Overall, patients averaged 2.50 morbidities (standard deviation [SD] = 2.20). Most patients were 45-54 years of age (38.2%), female (56.0%), non-Hispanic White (37.4%), spoke English (69.8%), continuously
Presenters Katherine Peak, Miguel Marino, PhD, Steele Valenzuela, MSc, Robert Voss, MS, Ana Quinones, [...]