Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Many people with opioid addiction also have two or more (2+) chronic illnesses, which is known as multimorbidity. Managing multiple chronic diseases at once can make getting the right care more difficult. However, we don't fully understand which illnesses often appear together in people with opioid addiction or how different ways of grouping these diseases might change what care they receive. Our study investigated health records of over 3,400 people receiving treatment for opioid addiction in Ontario between 2011 and 2021. We wanted to find out how common multimorbidity is in this group, which chronic illnesses often appear together, and what factors make multimorbidity more likely. We used two different statistical methods to group illnesses and compared the patterns we found. We found that about one in three people with opioid addiction had 2+ chronic diseases, which included heart and lung problems, diabetes, and mental health issues. Older age and unemployment made it more likely for someone to have multiple chronic illnesses. While both methods found similar health groupings, one method provided clearer and more useful results for healthcare planning. Our findings show that people with opioid addiction often face serious health challenges beyond addiction, which can make treatment harder. Healthcare providers should consider these overlapping chronic illnesses when designing care programs. This research can help clinicians, policymakers, and public health professionals create better, more supportive healthcare systems for people with opioid addiction.