Overview
Alessandra Marengoni is a geriatrician and clinical epidemiologist affiliated with the Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm) and the Geriatric Unit at the University of Brescia (Italy). Her research focuses on the epidemiology of multimorbidity in older adults: its prevalence, patterns, risk factors, and consequences including disability, mortality, and health care utilization.
Key Contributions / Features
- Marengoni et al. (2011, Ageing Research Reviews): Lead author of the landmark systematic review establishing the state of evidence on multimorbidity in the elderly (41 studies, MEDLINE 1990–2010). Key findings: prevalence 55–98% in 60+; risk factors largely unknown; disability and QoL consistently impaired; mortality effects controversial (count alone insufficient, disability status mediates); care evidence base essentially absent; clinical guidelines built for single diseases may be harmful when applied jointly to multimorbid patients.
- Marengoni et al. (2008, Am. J. Public Health): Estimated prevalence of chronic diseases and multimorbidity among 78+ Swedes (n=1099) using clinical examination, blood samples, and inpatient registers; found 55% multimorbidity rate — one of the lower estimates due to rigorous clinical ascertainment — with older age, female sex, and lower education as correlates.
- Marengoni et al. (2009a, JAGS): Documented patterns and clustering of chronic multimorbidity in the elderly Swedish population, applying statistical methods (cluster analysis, conditional odds ratios) to identify non-coincidental disease groupings.
- Marengoni et al. (2009b, J. Intern. Med.): Showed that increasing number of chronic conditions increased 3-year functional decline risk; found the 3-year mortality risk was the same for people with one disease as for those with 4+ diseases — one of the key results making multimorbidity's mortality effect controversial.
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