Sex Differences in Comorbidity Combinations in the Swedish Population

High comorbidity rates, especially mental-physical comorbidity, constitute an increasing health care burden, with women and men being differentially affected. To gain an overview of comorbidity rates stratified by sex across a range of different conditions, this study examines comorbidity patterns within and between cardiovascular, pulmonary, skin, endocrine, digestive, urogenital, musculoskeletal, neurological diseases, and psychiatric conditions. Self-report data from the LifeGene cohort of 31,825 participants from the general Swedish population (62.5% female, 18-84 years) were analyzed. Pairwise comorbidity rates of 54 self-reported conditions in women and men and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for their comparison were calculated. Overall, the rate of pairwise disease combinations with significant comorbidity was higher in women than men (14.36% vs. 9.40%). Among psychiatric conditions, this rate was considerably high, with 41.76% in women and 39.01% in men. The highest percentages of elevated mental-physical comorbidity in women were found for musculoskeletal diseases (21.43%), digestive diseases (20.71%), and skin diseases (13.39%); in men, for musculoskeletal diseases (14.29%), neurological diseases (11.22%), and digestive diseases (10%). Implications include the need for integrating mental and physical health care services and a shift from a disease-centered to an individualized, patient-centered focus in clinical care.

Automated summary

This study examines comorbidity rates stratified by sex across various conditions and found that women have higher comorbidity rates than men, particularly in terms of mental-physical comorbidity. The most common comorbid diseases in women are musculoskeletal diseases, digestive diseases, and skin diseases, whereas in men they are musculoskeletal diseases, neurological diseases, and digestive diseases. The implications of this study include the importance of integrating mental and physical health care services and shifting clinical care focus towards an individualized, patient-centered approach.