%0 Journal Article
%T The Influence of Multimorbidity on Leading Causes of Death in Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment
%A David F. Warner
%A Jiayang Sun
%A Kathleen A. Smyth
%A Kurt C. Stange
%A Nicholas K. Schiltz
%A Siran M. Koroukian
%A Stefan Gravenstein
%J Journal of Aging and Health
%@ 1552-6887
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0898264317751946
%X Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship of leading causes of death with gradients of cognitive impairment and multimorbidity. Method: This is a population-based study using data from the linked 1992-2010 Health and Retirement Study and National Death Index (n = 9,691). Multimorbidity is defined as a combination of chronic conditions, functional limitations, and geriatric syndromes. Regression trees and Random Forest identified which combinations of multimorbidity associated with causes of death. Results: Multimorbidity is common in the study population. Heart disease is the leading cause in all groups, but with a larger percentage of deaths in the mild and moderate/severe cognitively impaired groups than among the noncognitively impaired. The different ¡°paths¡± down the regression trees show that the distribution of causes of death changes with different combinations of multimorbidity. Discussion: Understanding the considerable heterogeneity in chronic conditions, functional limitations, geriatric syndromes, and causes of death among people with cognitive impairment can target care management and resource allocation
%K comorbidity
%K mortality
%K cause of death
%K cognitive status
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0898264317751946