A novel definition of comorbidity based on the Global Burden of Diseases project weights

Understanding comorbidity characteristics is essential for policymakers and healthcare providers to allocate resources accordingly. However, several definitions of comorbidity can be found in the literature. The main reason for these differences lies in the available information about the analyzed diseases (i.e., the target population analyzed), how to define the burden of diseases, and how to aggregate the occurrence of the detected health conditions. In this manuscript, we focus on the data from the Italian surveillance system PASSI proposing a definition of comorbidity based on the disability weights coming from the Global Burden of Disease project. Thanks to that, we can explore the level of comorbidity based on the presence of ten different non-communicable diseases across socioeconomic sub-populations in Italy.