Children and adolescents are not small adults: toward a better understanding of multimorbidity in younger populations

Marjan van den Akker; Mirjam Dieckelmann; Mohammad Akhtar Hussain; Daniela Bond-Smith; Christiane Muth; Sanghamitra Pati; Sonia Saxena; Desiree Silva; Rachel Skoss; Leon Straker; Sandra C Thompson; Judith M Katzenellenbogen

doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2022.07.003

Children and adolescents are not small adults: toward a better understanding of multimorbidity in younger populations

J Clin Epidemiol. 2022 Sep:149:165-171. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2022.07.003. Epub 2022 Jul 9.

Affiliations

¹ Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute of General Practice, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; KU Leuven, Academic Centre of General Practice, Kapucijnenvoer 33, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Maastricht University, Department of Family Medicine, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.vandenAkker@allgemeinmedizin.uni-frankfurt.de.
² Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute of General Practice, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
³ Barwon South West Public Health Unit, Public Health & Health Service Partnership, Barwon Health, 325 Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ UHERO, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, 2424 Maile Way, Saunders Hall 540, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA; School of Population & Global Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Australia.
⁵ University of Bielefeld, Medical Faculty of East Westphalia, Dep. of General Practice and Family Medicine, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany.
⁶ ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre Bhubaneswar, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar 751023, Odisha, India.
⁷ School of Public Health, Imperial College London, Medical School Building, St Mary's Hospital, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK; President, Child and Adolescent Health Section European Public Health Association, Otterstraat 118-124, Postbox 1568, 3500 BN Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁸ Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, 15 Hospital Ave, Western Australia 6009, Australia; The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia; Joondalup Health Campus, Perth, Cnr Grant Blvd &, Shenton Ave, Joondalup, Western Australia 6027, Australia; Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Dr, Joondalup, Perth, Western Australia 6027, Australia.
⁹ Institute for Health Research, The University of Notre Dame Australia, 19 Mouat Street, PO Box 1225, Fremantle, Western Australia 6959, Australia; School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Clifton Street Building, Clifton St, Nedlands Western Australia 6009, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Allied Health, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
¹¹ Western Australia Centre for Rural Health, University of Western Australia, 167 Fitzgerald Street, Geraldton 6530 Western Australia, Australia.
¹² School of Population & Global Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia.

PMID: 35820585
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2022.07.003

Abstract

Multimorbidity is of an increasing importance for the health of both children and adults but research has hitherto focused on adult multimorbidity. Hence, public awareness, practice, and policy lack vital information about multimorbidity in childhood and adolescence. We convened an international and interdisciplinary group of experts from six nations to identify key priorities supported by published evidence to strengthen research for children and adolescent with multimorbidity. Future research is encouraged (1) to develop a conceptual framework to capture unique aspects of child and adolescent multimorbidity-including definitions, characteristic patterns of conditions for different age groups, its dynamic nature through childhood and adolescence, and understanding of severity and trajectories for different clusters of multiple chronic conditions, (2) to define new indices to classify the presence of multimorbidity in children and adolescents, (3) to improve the availability and linkage of data across countries, (4) to synthesize evidence on the global phenomenon of multimorbidity in childhood and adolescence and health inequalities, and (5) to involve children and adolescents in research relevant to their health.

Keywords: Adolescent; Childhood; Infant; Multimorbidity; Multiple chronic conditions; Pediatric.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Child
Chronic Disease
Humans
Multimorbidity*