The synergistic effect of functional status and comorbidity burden on mortality: a 16-year survival analysis

Objectives: The relationship between disability and comorbidity on mortality is widely perceived as additive in clinical models of frailty. Design: National data were retrospectively extracted from medical records of community hospital. Data Sources: There were of 12,804 acutely-disabled patients admitted for inpatient rehabilitation in Singapore rehabilitation community hospitals from 1996 through 2005 were followed up for death till 31 December 2011. Outcome Measure: Cox proportional-hazards regression to assess the interaction of comorbidity and disability at discharge on all-cause mortality. Results: During a median follow-up of 10.9 years, there were 8,565 deaths (66.9%). The mean age was 73.0 (standard deviation: 11.5) years. Independent risk factors of mortality were higher comorbidity (p,0.001), severity of disability a