noun

comorbidity

koh-mor-BID-ih-tee

Comorbidity (noun) means the presence of one or more additional medical or psychiatric conditions in a patient alongside a primary condition. Example: “Diabetes and hypertension are common comorbidities in older patients.”

noun

medicine The presence of one or more additional medical or psychiatric conditions in a patient alongside a primary condition.

"Diabetes and hypertension are common comorbidities in older patients."

"Depression is a frequent comorbidity of chronic pain."

medicine The general tendency of two conditions to occur together in the same person more often than chance would predict.

"Researchers are still untangling the comorbidity between ADHD and anxiety."

How to Use Comorbidity

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishHaving another illness at the same time as the main one.

When to use it

Technical medical vocabulary; it became widely familiar to the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Memory tip

Do not confuse morbidity with mortality: morbidity is illness, mortality is death.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

multimorbidity complication → co-infection mortality →

Common pairings

underlying comorbidities psychiatric comorbidity high rate of comorbidity comorbidity index

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

Depression is a frequent _____ of chronic pain.

Etymology

A modern medical formation from co- 'together with' and morbidity, itself from Latin morbus 'disease'.

Origin: Latin

Synonyms

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co-occurring condition coexisting illness concurrent disorder

Rhymes for comorbidity

city pity deity acuity parity entity brevity opacity paucity ability quality reality

See all rhymes for comorbidity →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between comorbidity and multimorbidity?

Comorbidity describes other conditions in relation to one identified primary condition, so it implies a main diagnosis plus extras. Multimorbidity simply means a person has two or more long-term conditions, with none singled out as primary, and it is now preferred in general practice.

Does comorbidity mean the conditions cause each other?

No. It only means the conditions occur in the same person. They may share a cause, one may increase the risk of the other, or the overlap may be coincidental, and establishing which requires separate evidence.

Is comorbidity spelled with a hyphen?

Both comorbidity and co-morbidity are used. The unhyphenated form is now standard in most medical journals and style guides.