The evaluation of the presence of comorbidity by the Marigliano-Cacciafesta polypathology scale (MCPS) and the cumulative illness rating scale (CIRS) in elderly subjects with disability.

Multiple factors associated with the frailty syndrome may be involved in the appearance of disability, including the presence of comorbidity. The CIRS is commonly used for the evaluation of comorbidity, consisting of two parts: the comorbidity index (CI) and the severity index (SI). A multidimensional scale, the MCPS, has been recently developed, predicting the risk to develop disability. Fifty-nine subjects were examined by a structured multidimensional geriatric assessment. The MCPS and CIRS was significantly correlated (r=0.410; p<0.01 with the CI; and r=0.443, p<0.001 with the SI). The patients were divided in two groups, according to the MCPS score. The mean activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), as well as the corrected mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score (+/-S.E.M.) were: 3.19+/-0.26; 0.28+/-0.04 and 24.00+/-1.14 in moderate-severe polypathology (n=21); 2.16+/-0.22; 0.13+/-0.02 and 21.23+/-0.72 in severe polypathology (n=38) (p<0.001, p<0.01 and p<0.05), respectively. The MCPS score was correlated with the main indices of disability. In conclusion, we found that the MCPS is a useful tool in order to quantify and classify the presence of comorbidity, with results significantly related to that obtained with the CIRS. The MCPS offers an important stratification of the patients on the base of a well-established classification, not supplied by the CIRS.