Abstract
This cross-sectional study assessed the association of demographic and socioeconomic variables with comorbidities at 40 years of age in participants of the 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort. At age 40, study participants were invited to visit the research clinic to be examined and answered an online questionnaire. Subjects reported medical diagnosis of several morbidities that were grouped according to the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases into four groups (endocrine, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and allergic/respiratory). Ordinal logistic regression was used to estimate the proportional odds ratio, and Brant test to check the proportional odds assumption. Latent class analysis was used to identify multimorbidity patterns, and their association with demographic and socioeconomic factors was evaluated via multinomial logistic regression. A total of 2,986 participants were included in this study. At least one endocrine disorder was reported by 48.1% participant, cardiovascular morbidities by 26.6%, allergic/respiratory morbidities by 59%, and musculoskeletal morbidities by 32.5% of participants. In the latent class analysis, three morbidity patterns were identified: relatively healthy, metabolic and allergic/respiratory. The odds of being in a higher category of number of cardiovascular morbidities was higher among blacks (OR = 1.79; 95%CI: 1.43; 2.24). Notably, lower socioeconomic status was associated with a lower odds of being in a higher category of number of allergic/respiratory morbidities (OR = 0.59; 95%CI: 0.47; 0.74) and a higher odds of being in a higher category of number of cardiovascular and musculoskeletal morbidities. Our findings suggest that multiple morbidities occur in different directions depending on the socioeconomic and educational levels.