Meaning & use
comorbidities
Last updated
“comorbidities” is a form of “comorbidity”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
nounpluralmedical
Other illnesses or health problems a person has at the same time as a main condition.
Grammar: Plural of comorbidity; often used with with or such as: patients with several comorbidities.
Patterns
- comorbidities such as something
- patients with comorbidities
Older patients often have comorbidities such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Doctors must consider other comorbidities before prescribing the drug.
Patients with multiple comorbidities were more likely to need hospital care.
Common combinations
- multiple comorbidities
- The patient had multiple comorbidities, which complicated his treatment.
- underlying comorbidities
- Underlying comorbidities increased the risk of severe illness.
- patients with comorbidities
- Patients with comorbidities are monitored more often.
- common comorbidities
- Anxiety and depression are common comorbidities of chronic pain.
- manage comorbidities
- The clinic helps older adults manage comorbidities.
Synonyms and how they differ
- coexisting conditions
- Coexisting conditions is the plain-language phrase for the same idea and is easier for patients to follow than comorbidities.
- additional illnesses
- Additional illnesses is the everyday phrase and does not stress, as comorbidities does, that they occur together with a primary diagnosis.
- complications
- Complications are problems caused by the main illness or its treatment, whereas comorbidities may be separate conditions that merely occur alongside it.
- underlying conditions
- Underlying conditions focuses on health problems that exist before a new illness and raise its risk, so the focus differs slightly from comorbidities.
Word family
- comorbidity noun
- singular form, or the state of having more than one condition
- comorbid adjective
- occurring together with another condition
- morbidity noun
- the rate or state of being ill
- mortality noun
- death rate
Commonly confused: comorbidities or complications?
comorbidities vs complications
Complications arise from a condition or its treatment, while comorbidities are separate conditions present at the same time.
Practice
Which sentence uses comorbidities correctly?
Choose one answer.
Comorbidities are additional health conditions, such as diabetes and asthma alongside another illness. The other sentences use the word as a place, clothing or food, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “comorbidities”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.