Background: An increase in body mass index (BMI) is strongly associated with the occurrence of multimorbidity, and overweight and obesity are contributing factors for the increase in morbidities. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of multimorbidity and associated factors in Brazilian adults with and without overweight or obesity.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional population-based study with data from the National Health Survey (2013) including individuals aged 18 years or older. Multimorbidity was defined as having ≥2 diseases from the list of 15 morbidities on the self-reported questionnaire (self-reported medical diagnosis in life). BMI was categorized as: ≤24.9 kg/m2 (low weight and eutrophy), 25.0-29.9 kg/m2 (overweight), and ≥30.0 kg/m2 (obesity). Sex, age, and schooling were the covariates. Poisson regression was used for crude and adjusted analyses for the variables representing access to health services estimating the prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).
Results: The total sample consisted of 59,402 individuals. The prevalence of multimorbidity was 25% overall and was higher among overweight (25.8%) and obese (32.5%) individuals. Obese women 60 years or older had a higher occurrence of multimorbidity (80%). In the adjusted analysis, a lower prevalence of multimorbidity was observed among those with higher educational levels in all BMI classifications: low weight/eutrophy, PR=0.66 (95% CI, 0.58-0.75); overweight, PR=0.62 (95% CI, 0.56-0.70); and obesity, PR=0.75 (95% CI, 0.67-0.85).
Conclusion: A higher prevalence of multimorbidity was found among obese women who were 60 years of age or older. Schooling was an associated factor regardless of BMI.
Keywords: Body mass index; Multimorbidity; Obesity; Overweight; Prevalence.