School of Public Health News

The Fall 2007 issue of the UMDNJ Research Magazine features an article by SPH Adjunct Associate Professor Usha Sambamoorthi, PhD, entitled Chronic Illness with Complexity: Care of Individuals with Chronic Physical and Mental Illness. Dr. Sambamoorthi is director, Health Outcomes, Center for Healthcare Knowledge Management at the New Jersey VA Healthcare System; adjunct associate professor, Department of Health Systems and Policy, UMDNJ-School of Public Health; and adjunct professor, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.

Chronic Illness with Complexity: Care of Individuals with Chronic Physical and Mental Illness
by Usha Sambamoorthi

It has been well documented that co-occurring, multiple chronic conditions are closely correlated with high healthcare expenditures. Nearly 65% of adults older than 65 have more than one condition and the per capita Medicare expenditures for those with multiple chronic conditions can be 66 times higher than for those without a chronic condition. It is also well established that psychiatric disorders, such as depression, tend to co-occur with general medical illnesses. For example, the rates of depressive disorder are elevated in a number of medical conditions, including infectious diseases such as HIV, various cardiac conditions and diabetes mellitus.

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