Trends in Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults, By Life Stage, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2013–2023
ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 22 — April 17, 2025
PEER REVIEWED
Figure 1.
Overall and age-specific trends in the prevalence in 1 or more chronic conditions or multiple (2 or more) chronic conditions of 12 selected chronic conditions among US adults, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2013–2023. Linear and linear-plus-quadratic trends are significant (P < .05) for all groups except for adults aged ≥65 years, in which only quadratic trends are significant. The solid line indicates a meaningfully significant increasing or decreasing trend based on at least a 15% relative change or a 3- to 5-percentage–point absolute difference threshold (defined by the 2013 prevalence estimate). A dashed line indicates no meaningfully significant trend.
| Survey year | All adults | Adults aged 18–34 years | Adults aged 35–64 years | Adults aged 65 years or older |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≥1 Chronic conditions | ||||
| 2013 | 72.3 | 52.5 | 76.5 | 93.1 |
| 2015 | 71.7 | 51.6 | 75.6 | 92.5 |
| 2017 | 72.0 | 52.9 | 75.4 | 91.9 |
| 2019 | 73.0 | 55.0 | 75.6 | 92.0 |
| 2021 | 75.1 | 58.4 | 77.4 | 92.3 |
| 2023 | 76.4 | 59.5 | 78.4 | 93.0 |
| Multiple chronic conditions (≥2 conditions) | ||||
| 2013 | 47.3 | 21.8 | 51.1 | 78.4 |
| 2015 | 46.5 | 21.2 | 49.5 | 77.6 |
| 2017 | 47.1 | 22.2 | 50.0 | 76.5 |
| 2019 | 47.9 | 23.5 | 50.3 | 76.2 |
| 2021 | 49.6 | 26.0 | 51.4 | 77.3 |
| 2023 | 51.4 | 27.1 | 52.7 | 78.8 |
Figure 2.
Life stage–specific trends in 12 selected chronic conditions among US adults aged 18 years or older, by age group, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2013–2023. Solid lines indicate meaningfully significant increasing or decreasing linear or linear-plus-quadratic trend based on at least a 15% relative change and a 3-to-5 percentage-point absolute difference threshold (defined by the 2013 prevalence estimate). Dashed lines indicate that trends are not meaningfully significant. Abbreviations: CKD, chronic kidney disease; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
| Year | 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2021 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults aged 18–34 years | ||||||
| Current asthma | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 10.1 | 10.1 |
| Arthritis | 5.5 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 5.0 |
| High cholesterol | 15.9 | 14.3 | 12.4 | 12.3 | 14.5 | 16.3 |
| High blood pressure | 10.4 | 9.9 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.6 | 11.5 |
| Depression | 16.4 | 16.4 | 19.4 | 21.1 | 23.5 | 25.0 |
| Diabetes | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| COPD | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
| CKD | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Cancer | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.0 |
| Heart disease | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
| Stroke | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Obesity | 22.1 | 22.9 | 24.1 | 25.9 | 27.9 | 27.3 |
| Adults aged 35–64 years | ||||||
| Current asthma | 9.1 | 8.9 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.9 | 9.9 |
| Arthritis | 26.5 | 25.9 | 25.6 | 25.8 | 25.6 | 24.9 |
| High cholesterol | 39.3 | 36.4 | 34.5 | 33.8 | 35.2 | 36.9 |
| High blood pressure | 34.5 | 33.7 | 34.1 | 33.9 | 33.6 | 35.0 |
| Depression | 19.6 | 19.4 | 20.2 | 19.2 | 19.3 | 19.9 |
| Diabetes | 10.9 | 11.2 | 11.6 | 11.6 | 12 | 12.5 |
| COPD | 6.7 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 5.8 |
| CKD | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 3.1 |
| Cancer | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 6.1 |
| Heart disease | 5.7 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.2 |
| Stroke | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
| Obesity | 32.6 | 32.8 | 34.5 | 35.6 | 37.4 | 37.1 |
| Adults aged 65 years or older | ||||||
| Current asthma | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 8.6 | 9.3 |
| Arthritis | 52.7 | 51.5 | 50.2 | 49.8 | 50.7 | 51.3 |
| High cholesterol | 55.6 | 54.4 | 51.7 | 51.2 | 53.6 | 55.1 |
| High blood pressure | 63.0 | 61.7 | 60.7 | 60.1 | 60.6 | 61.4 |
| Depression | 14.7 | 15.1 | 16.0 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 14.7 |
| Diabetes | 22.4 | 22.9 | 22.8 | 23.1 | 22.6 | 23.5 |
| COPD | 12.2 | 12.5 | 12.7 | 12.9 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
| CKD | 5.7 | 5.8 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 7.1 | 8.6 |
| Cancer | 17.7 | 17.6 | 17.8 | 17.8 | 17.6 | 20.1 |
| Heart disease | 18.4 | 17.4 | 16.9 | 16.2 | 15.6 | 15.7 |
| Stroke | 7.6 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 7.7 | 7.4 |
| Obesity | 26.5 | 27.5 | 28.5 | 29.2 | 29.9 | 30.3 |