Author Description

With the progress of population aging, development of medical technology, increase in life expectancy, changes in life habits, etc., the prevalence of chronic conditions is rising and their burden on individuals and society is growing rapidly(WHO,2011)1). According to a report from OECD (2010), chronic diseases are the main causes for disabilities and deaths throughout the world, as 60% of the global population is estimated to die from chronic diseases. Recently, the concern over prevalence and management of multiple chronic conditions, along with the increase in chronic conditions, is rising (Lenhert et al., 2011). Results from various studies indicate that prevalence of multiple chronic conditions occurs in more than 65% of the elderly aged 65 years or older (Lenhert et al., 2011). In Korea, 68.7% of people in their 50s have at least one chronic disease, and the ratio grows to 83.7% and 91.3% among those in their 60s and 70s, respectively (Young-Ho Jung et al., 2011)2). Among patients who have multiple chronic conditions, those in their 50s have an average of two chronic conditions, whereas those in their 60s have an average of three conditions and those in their 70s have an average of 3.5 chronic conditions (Young-Ho Jung, 2012)3). We can see that the ratios of people who have chronic conditions and multiple chronic conditions rise as they get older, and thus, management of chronic diseases is one of the key policy issues in today's society where population aging is swiftly occurring. However, there has been insufficient research on multiple chronic conditions compared to that on chronic conditions in general. Therefore, it is necessary to facilitate research on and policy attention to multiple chronic conditions. Based on this necessity, the study attempts to promote the understanding of multiple chronic conditions by analyzing the types and distribution of these conditions among the elderly patients who have multiple chronic conditi