Keele Research Repository

Comorbidity is defined as experiencing an ‘index’ health condition with one or more other conditions at the same time. The prevalence of comorbidity, in particular chronic disease comorbidity, is set to rise in ageing Western populations and negatively influences patient health and health care services. However, our understanding of how specific comorbid chronic disease combinations (such as cardiovascular disease and osteoarthritis) interact, the subsequent outcomes and how severity influences these remains limited. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the consequences of cardiovascular disease and osteoarthritis comorbidity on short and long-term physical health change in general practice populations.