--- title: "Multiple Long-Term Conditions in India: Prevalence, Quality of Life Impact, and Healthcare Use" id: "bmj-open-7-multiple-long-term-conditions-and-their-association-with-quality-of-life-and" canonical_url: "https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/bmj-open-7-multiple-long-term-conditions-and-their-association-with-quality-of-life-and" content_type: "clinical_feed_article" specialty: "General" source_name: "BMJ Open" source_url: "http://bmjopen.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/16/8/e116399?rss=1" published_at: "2026-08-11T10:40:53.000Z" evidence_level: "Journal Feed" license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0 / Informational Use" --- # Multiple Long-Term Conditions in India: Prevalence, Quality of Life Impact, and Healthcare Use ## Provenance & Clinical Metadata - **Canonical URL:** https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/bmj-open-7-multiple-long-term-conditions-and-their-association-with-quality-of-life-and - **Specialty:** [General](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/general.md) - **Primary Source:** BMJ Open - **Source URL:** [Original Journal Publication](http://bmjopen.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/16/8/e116399?rss=1) - **Published At:** 2026-08-11T10:40:53.000Z - **Evidence Rating:** Journal Feed ## Executive GIST (TL;DR) - This cross-sectional analysis used WHO SAGE Waves 2 (2015) and 3 (2019–2020) household survey data from six Indian states to examine **multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs)** among adults aged 18+. - Sample sizes were 9,116 adults in 2015 and 7,885 adults in 2019–2020. - MLTC prevalence increased from 19.2% in 2015 to 24.4% in 2019–2020. Prevalence was highest in adults aged 60+, in women, in urban residents, and in the wealthiest quintile. - The most common disease dyads included **hypertension–cataracts**, **hypertension–arthritis**, and **hypertension–diabetes**. - Combinations involving **depression** (notably **depression–COPD** and **depression–stroke**) were associated with the poorest **quality of life**. - Quality of life was measured by the **WHOQoL-8** scale (range 0–100); scores declined stepwise with one, two, and three or more chronic conditions. - Domains of quality of life most affected by increasing MLTC count were the physical and functional domains; the financial domain remained stable. - Healthcare utilisation (outpatient visits and hospitalisations in the prior 12 months) increased with MLTC burden; Poisson regression was used to estimate associations. - Tobit regression was used to model WHOQoL-8 scores, with adjustments for sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and behavioural covariates. - The source concludes that rising MLTC in India are linked to poorer quality of life and greater healthcare use, and highlights high-burden combinations (for example, **depression–COPD**, **depression–stroke**, **COPD–stroke**, **depression–angina**) as priorities for targeted interventions. - Specific p-values and some detailed numerical statistics for adjusted models were not reported in the source summary provided. ## Clinical Analysis & Structured Key Points Objectives To examine the prevalence and disease-combination patterns of multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs) among adults in India and their associations with quality of life and healthcare utilisation. Design Cross-sectional analysis of two nationally representative survey waves. Setting Community-based household survey conducted across six Indian states (Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal), part of the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health. Participants 9116 adults aged 18 years and older in Wave 2 (2015) and 7885 adults in Wave 3 (2019 - 2020). Primary and secondary outcome measures Quality of life, assessed with the 8-item WHO Quality of Life scale (WHOQoL-8, range 0 - 100), was the primary outcome. Outpatient visits and hospitalisations in the preceding 12 months were the secondary outcomes. Associations with MLTC were estimated using Tobit regression for quality of life and Poisson regression for healthcare utilisation, adjusting for sociodemographic, socio-economic and behavioural factors. Results MLTC prevalence rose from 19.2% to 24.4% between waves and was highest among adults aged 60 years and older, women, urban residents and the wealthiest quintile. Hypertension - cataracts, hypertension - arthritis and hypertension - diabetes were the most prevalent dyads. Depression - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and depression - stroke combinations had the poorest quality of life. Physical and functional domains declined most as MLTC increased, while the financial domain remained stable. Compared with adults without chronic conditions, WHOQoL-8 scores fell in a stepwise pattern with one, two and three or more conditions ( - 2.6, - 5.1 and - 6.7 points in 2015; - 3.3, - 5.6 and - 7.9 in 2019 - 2020; all p Conclusions MLTC are rising in India and are associated with poorer quality of life and higher healthcare use. High-burden combinations, particularly depression - COPD, depression - stroke, COPD - stroke and depression - angina, warrant targeted interventions to improve quality of life and manage rising healthcare demands. ## Related Clinical Research - [Bupropion Hydrochloride for Improving Recovery in Acute Ischaemic Stroke: BASE Trial Protocol](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/bmj-open-4-protocol-for-base-a-multicentre-double-blind-randomised-controlled-trial-of.md) - [Lifestyle Changes May Help Prevent Multimorbidity In Prediabetes](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/medical-news-today-23-diet-weight-loss-and-150-minutes-of-exercise-may-protect-against-chronic.md) - [Nonlinear association of sleep quality (PSQI) with type 2 diabetes prevalence in community chronic](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/plos-one-18-nonlinear-relationship-between-sleep-quality-and-prevalence-of-type-2-diabetes.md) - [Pre-diagnostic 1-year prevalence of polypharmacy and PIMcog in Norwegian outpatients with MCI or d](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/plos-one-14-one-year-pre-diagnostic-prevalence-and-associated-factors-of-polypharmacy-and.md) - [Testosterone Therapy in Men Often Prescribed Inconsistently with Guidelines, ENDO 2026 Study Shows](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/endocrine-news-0-video-testosterone-therapy-in-men-may-be-overprescribed-inconsistent-with.md) ## Navigation - [← Back to General Feed](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/general.md) - [← All Clinical Specialties](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed.md) ## Medical & Regulatory Disclaimer > [!CAUTION] > MedicHelpline content is structured for research, educational, and professional discovery purposes. 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