Ayeni, O.ANorris, S.AJoffe, MCubasch, HNietz, SBuccimazza, ISingh, UČačala, SStopforth, LChen, W.CMcCormack, V.AO’Neil, D.SJacobson, J.SNeugut, A.IRuff, PMicklesfield, L.K2024-06-092024-06-092020-07-15Ayeni OA, Norris SA, Joffe M, Cubasch H, Nietz S, Buccimazza I, Singh U, Čačala S, Stopforth L, Chen WC, McCormack VA, O'Neil DS, Jacobson JS, Neugut AI, Ruff P, Micklesfield LK. The multimorbidity profile of South African women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Int J Cancer. 2020 Jul 15;147(2):361-374. doi: 10.1002/ijc.32727.10.1002/ijc.32727https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7649092/https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.32727https://hdl.handle.net/11288/596542Multimorbidity in women with breast cancer may delay presentation, affect treatment decisions and outcomes. We described the multimorbidity profile of women with breast cancer, its determinants, associations with stage at diagnosis and treatments received. We collected self-reported data on five chronic conditions (hypertension, diabetes, cerebrovascular diseases, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tuberculosis), determined obesity using body mass index (BMI), and tested HIV status, in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer between January 2016 and April 2018 in 5 public hospitals in South Africa. We identified determinants of ≥2 of the 7 above mentioned conditions (defined as multimorbidity), multimorbidity itself with stage at diagnosis (advanced (III-IV) vs. early (0-II)) and multimorbidity with treatment modalities received. Among 2281 women, 1001 (44%) presented with multimorbidity. Obesity (52.8%), hypertension (41.3%), HIV (22.0%) and diabetes (13.7%) were the chronic conditions that occurred most frequently. Multimorbidity was more common with older age (OR=1.02; 95% CI 1.01–1.03) and higher household socioeconomic status (HSES) (OR=1.06; 95% CI 1.00–1.13). Multimorbidity was not associated with advanced stage breast cancer at diagnosis, but for self-reported hypertension there was less likelihood of being diagnosed with advanced stage disease in the adjusted model (OR 0.80; 95% CI 0.64–0.98). Multimorbidity was associated with first treatment received in those with early stage disease, p=0.003. The prevalence of multimorbidity is high among patients with breast cancer. Our findings suggest that multimorbidity had a significant impact on treatment received in those with early stage disease. There is need to understand the impact of multimorbidity on breast cancer outcomes.enAttribution 3.0 United Stateshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/Breast cancerChronic conditionsMultimorbidityStage at diagnosisSouth African womenArticleInternational Journal of Cancer