Old age may bring frailty or other health issues – the number of people in England with three or more long-term conditions is expected to reach 2.9 million in the next two years, and most of them will be aged over 60.
Using the American Diabetes Association criteria [ 18], we also defined individuals at 'risk of developing diabetes' as those non-diabetic subjects having one or more of the following six conditions: age over 45 years, overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m), a diagnosis of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular disease and having family history of diabetes in first degree relatives.
Thus we can give crude (lowest) estimates for those who are likely to conform to Canadian guidelines, through to those likely to be eligible under the NICE guidelines, which add conditions to those aged over 65 years.
Knee OA is the most common form of arthritis, 1 currently affecting more than 25 million North Americans, with the incidence expected to double by the year 2020. 1, 2 In fact, the current rate of knee OA is as high as that of cardiac disease, and it is the most prevalent medical condition in individuals aged over 65 years.
In Hong Kong, the condition affects 27.2%% of people aged over 15 years and more than 65%% of elderly [ 3].
A study by Louwman et al (2005) indicated that 10% of patients aged less than 50 years had comorbid conditions compared to 55% of patients aged over 80 years.
In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Urological Association reported that the number of OAB cases has increased; a survey conducted in 2009 revealed that approximately 15%% of the sampled 1300 respondents aged over 40 had conditions diagnosed as OAB [ 9].
However, many people and most of those aged over 75 have more than one condition.
3, 28– 30 Among adults aged over 65 years, 84% present with two or more chronic conditions, compared with 35% of patients aged 45 to 65 years.
The condition, orthorexia nervosa, affects equal numbers of men and women, but sufferers tend to be aged over 30, middle-class and well-educated.
