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Recent findings from a UK-wide study led by the University of Glasgow suggest that living with chronic pain or depression alongside other long-term health conditions is associated with lower quality of life. The research team proposes healthcare settings urgently need new approaches to better treat patients with multiple long-term health conditions.

The study, published in BMC Medicine, is part of the NIHR-funded Personalised Exercise-Rehabilitation For people with Multiple long-term conditions (multimorbidity) (PERFORM) led by Prof Sally Singh, University of Leicester and Prof Rod Taylor, University of Glasgow.

The research team looked at health data of more than half a million people from the UK Biobank and the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Researchers were able to identify 24 different multimorbidity clusters. Some were linked with worse overall quality of life, particularly those associated with chronic pain, depression and cardiovascular disease, the study found. People living with multiple long-term conditions – typically defined as the co-existence of 2 or more chronic conditions – is now an area of major international public health concern, say the researchers.