# Multiple Chronic Conditions and Aging

> **NIH NIH R01** · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · 2020 · $652,857

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
In the United States, about 62% of Medicare recipients ages 65 to 74 years have multiple chronic conditions
(MCC; ≥ 2 chronic conditions), and the frequency increases dramatically to 82% above age 85. Because
adults with MCC are at increased risk of functional decline and are particularly vulnerable to poor care, MCC
threatens both the public and financial health of the United States. MCC prevalence may be reduced by
delaying the onset of single conditions and combinations of conditions through modification of risk factors or
determinants of diseases. However, current preventive efforts have partly failed because they have focused
on one disease at a time and too late in life. For this reason, there is a critical need to identify groups of
individuals at risk earlier in life, and to develop interventions to prevent MCC and their adverse health
outcomes. These priorities were outlined in the Multiple Chronic Conditions Strategic Framework of the US
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) of 2010. A growing body of literature has described
patterns of prevalent MCC in the United States and worldwide; however, the patterns of incidence of MCC and
the outcomes of MCC remain poorly understood. In addition, the National Institute on Aging has
recommended the novel approach of considering MCC as a proxy measure (clinical marker) of accelerated
aging. Therefore, we will study the incidence and the rate of accumulation of MCC and the health outcomes of
MCC across the entire life span.
The Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) is an ideal environment to study the incidence and rate of
accumulation of MCC, and the outcomes of MCC because it includes information for all ages from new-
borns to death, regardless of insurance status or health care setting, and encompasses the full spectrum of
care, from primary to tertiary care. In this application, we propose to study the incidence and life course
accumulation of MCC using 18 selected somatic and mental health conditions across all ages (Aim 1), to study
the short-term and long-term medical-records-based adverse health outcomes of incident MCC (Aim 2), and to
study the short-term and long-term patient reported adverse outcomes of incident MCC (Aim 3).
Understanding the incidence and accumulation of MCC, and its objective and subjective health outcomes is
critical to enabling clinical and public health agencies to prevent and treat MCC, and to improve population
health. In addition, these studies will identify persons at high risk of developing MCC early in life (accelerated
aging). These persons may be selected for future studies of biomarkers (e.g., blood tests, genetic tests,
imaging) or for preventive interventions to slow aging (e.g., specific drugs, dietary modification, lifestyle
modification). Studying MCC as a clinical marker will advance our understanding of aging. In summary, the
studies proposed here are novel, can be efficiently conducted using the REP, and are urgently neede...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9894699
- **Project number:** 5R01AG052425-04
- **Recipient organization:** MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** WALTER A ROCCA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $652,857
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-04-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9894699

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9894699, Multiple Chronic Conditions and Aging (5R01AG052425-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9894699. Licensed CC0.

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