Background: Chronic diseases are becoming the major global burden of disease. Information on their impact on health services and quality of life of individual patients can facilitate the provision of appropriate care. Objectives: To determine the self reported prevalence of chronic diseases and their impact on health service utilization and quality of life of individual patients. Methods: A cross sectional random telephone survey was conducted on 2410 Chinese adults from the general population in Hong Kong using both a structured questionnaire and the 36 item short form Health Survey (SF-36). The effects of chronic diseases on consultation rates, hospitalization risk and the SF-36 scores were analyzed by multivariate stepwise regressions, controlling for sociodemographic variables and comorbidity. Results: A total of 38% of subjects reported one or more chronic diseases with 59% being less than 60 years. Chronic joint problems were the most common. Every additional chronic disease increased the annual number of consultations by 60% and the likelihood of hospitalization in the last year by 79%. Most chronic diseases had a negative impact on quality of life with most associated with psychological problems. Conclusions: One in three Chinese adults in Hong Kong reported having chronic diseases. The total number of chronic diseases had a linear relationship with service utilization, which could be a useful medical risk adjustment factor. Enhancing quality of life should be an important aim in the management of chronic diseases.
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Lam et al. (2003) studied this question.
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