An increasing number of adults in the US have multiple chronic conditions

According to a recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of adults in the US with two or more chronic conditions has continued to rise over the past ten years.

In 2009-2010, 21% of adults aged 45-64 and 45% of adults aged 65 and over had been diagnosed with two or more chronic conditions. 

Other key findings included:

• The prevalence of multiple chronic conditions increased for all racial and ethnic groups
• The likelihood of having multiple chronic conditions decreased with rising family income levels in both years, but prevalence increased among all income levels
• In 2009–2010, 23% of adults aged 45–64 with two or more chronic conditions did not receive or delayed needed medical care in the past year due to cost, and 22% did not receive needed prescription drugs due to cost

Growth in the prevalence of multiple chronic conditions was driven primarily by increases in three of the nine individual conditions.  During this 10-year period, prevalence of hypertension increased from 35% to 41%, diabetes from 10% to 15%, and cancer from 9% to 11%, among those 45 and over.

The report focused on nine self-reported chronic conditions: hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, current asthma, and kidney disease.