Polypathology as a Marker of Care Complexity in Hospitalized Adults with Multimorbidity in México
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Background/Objectives: The concept of the polypathological patient was developed in Spain, in older populations, and has not been described in México. We analyzed its frequency, profile, relationship with care burden, and phenotypes in hospitalized adults with multimorbidity and without social security coverage. Methods: This was a retrospective single-center cohort of patients with multimorbidity admitted to the Internal Medicine department of a public university hospital in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (2023–2024). Polypathology was defined using the 2018 Andalusian criteria. Logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, and the Charlson index, and latent class analysis were used. Results: Of 1108 patients with multimorbidity, 702 (63.4%) were polypathological; their mean age was 61.5 years, 43.6% were younger than 60, and 51.7% were men. Each additional category was associated with polypharmacy (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.35–1.85) and prior hospitalizations (1.63; 1.36–1.95) at admission and with discharge at maximum therapeutic benefit (1.63; 1.23–2.18), also after adjustment for the Charlson index, but not with death during the index admission (0.94; 0.77–1.16). Seven phenotypes were identified, which differed in polypharmacy and prior hospitalizations but not in mortality. Conclusions: In this cohort, polypathology was frequent, affected patients about 15 years younger than in Spanish cohorts, although the cohorts differ in population and setting, and was associated with markers of care burden, with no clear association with in-hospital mortality. Prospective multicenter studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Source: Journal of Clinical Medicine
DOI: 10.3390/jcm15218722
Institutions: Universidad de Guadalajara, Hospital Civil de Guadalajara
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
OpenAlex ID: W7225648594