Identifying profiles, trajectories, burden, social and biological factors in 3.3 million individuals with multimorbidity in England

Identifying profiles, trajectories, burden, social and biological factors in 3.3 million individuals with multimorbidity in England | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Identifying profiles, trajectories, burden, social and biological factors in 3.3 million individuals with multimorbidity in England Yu Liu, Clare Bankhead, Cynthia Drakesmith, Catherine Pope, David Gonzalez-Chica, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6577493/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Multimorbidity, the co-occurrence of multiple chronic conditions in an individual, has become a global health challenge affecting populations in high-income and low- to middle-income countries. Despite its increasing prevalence, critical gaps remain in understanding its progression, burden, and determinants to better guide prevention and treatment. Here, by leveraging linked primary care, hospitalisation, and mortality records from 3.3 million individuals with multimorbidity in England, we conducted a longitudinal cohort study to characterise multimorbidity across multiple dimensions, including condition profiling, progression trajectories, healthcare burden, and associated social and biological factors. Specifically, we identified 21 distinct multimorbidity profiles in males and 18 in females, uncovering life-course progression pathways. We assessed the differential burden of these profiles on mortality and hospitalisations. The study also highlights how social inequalities shape distinct patterns of multimorbidity. Furthermore, by developing an interpretable machine learning framework, we identified key biological factors associated with specific multimorbidity profiles. Together, these results offer valuable insights to inform prevention strategies, public health initiatives and potential interventions aimed at mitigating the growing burden of multimorbidity. Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders Health sciences/Diseases/Neurological disorders Health sciences/Diseases/Cancer Health sciences/Diseases/Endocrine system and metabolic diseases Health sciences/Medical research/Biomarkers Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files NATAGINGA09340supplementaryupdate.pdf Supplementary Material Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6577493","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":472545936,"identity":"ef35aa4c-5184-4960-96ca-8d6324298531","order_by":0,"name":"Yu 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