Definitions #
The situation where a patient has two or more diseases or medical conditions at the same time, which can affect treatment.
Technical Presence of one or more additional disorders co-occurring with a primary disease, impacting prognosis, treatment choice, and outcomes.
Example The patient’s diabetes and hypertension are common comorbidities that complicate the management of heart failure.
In clinical research, any extra condition that exists alongside the main study condition.
Technical In trial contexts, a secondary condition that may be an exclusion criterion or a confounder affecting endpoint analysis.
Etymology #
From Latin co- (together) and morbus (disease); first used in medical literature in the 1970s.
Collocations #
- comorbid conditions 共存疾病
- comorbidity burden 共病负担
- psychiatric comorbidity 精神科共病
Real Business Examples #
- Elderly patients often present with multiple comorbidities, requiring a holistic care plan.
- The study excluded patients with severe comorbidities such as end-stage renal disease.
Register & Variants #
- Register: formal
- BrE/AmE: 全球通用，英式常写成 co-morbidity，美式多写为 comorbidity
Synonyms & Antonyms #
- Synonyms: co-occurring disease, concurrent illness
- Antonyms: primary disease
Common Errors #
- 将 comorbidity 与 multimorbidity 混用 Comorbidity 指与主病共存的其他疾病，multimorbidity 指多种疾病并存，无主次之分。
- 发音错误：误读为 /kɒmɔːˈbɪdɪti/ 中的 'm' 拉长 正确发音为 /ˌkəʊmɔːˈbɪdəti/，注意重音在第三个音节。
Confusable Terms #
- Multimorbidity vs Comorbidity
- Multimorbidity refers to the coexistence of multiple conditions with no index disease; comorbidity implies a primary condition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Comorbidity 会影响临床试验结果吗？?
会，因为其他疾病可能干扰疗效或安全性评估，常被作为排除或分层因素。
怎么书写 comorbidity 的复数？?
标准复数是 comorbidities，不加撇号。
Published: 2026-09-24 Category: Clinical