{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"Research Square"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,20]],"date-time":"2026-01-20T07:17:00Z","timestamp":1768893420077,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]]},"group-title":"In Review","reference-count":11,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]],"date-time":"2025-10-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761696000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,3]]},"abstract":"<title>Abstract<\/title>\n                <p>Background\nInflammation is implicated in many chronic diseases, but its role in driving multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs) remains unclear. The InflAIM programme aims to explore this potential link. Existing MLTC codelists are valuable but have not been designed for inflammation-focused research and often lack harmonisation across coding systems.\nObjective\nTo develop a transparent, co-produced MLTC framework with harmonised codelists for epidemiological research, focusing on inflammatory conditions within the InflAIM programme.\nMethods\nUsing a systematic, co-produced approach, we combined literature review, clinical consensus, and patient input. From eight sources, 363 candidate conditions were identified, refined to 60 validated MLTCs. Patients informed terminology and diagnostic experiences. Codelists were drawn from CALIBER (43), HDR UK Phenotype Library (4), MULTIPLY (8), with 7 developed de novo. Harmonisation covered Read v2, SNOMED CT, and Medcodes. Quality assurance excluded 16.5% of codes and resolved 92 overlaps.\nResults\nWe produced harmonised codelists for 60 MLTCs, comprising 7,426 validated MedCodes. Clinical consensus identified 17 conditions with potential inflammatory components. Additional lists were developed for autoimmune and infectious diseases to support inflammation-focused analyses.\nConclusion\nThis framework extends existing resources to meet the needs of inflammation-focused research, offering a transparent, harmonised, and patient-informed foundation for the InflAIM programme.<\/p>","DOI":"10.21203\/rs.3.rs-7773449\/v1","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]],"date-time":"2025-10-29T14:52:28Z","timestamp":1761749548000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Harmonising Definitions of Multiple Long Terms Conditions for Inflammation Research: A Co-Production Approach"],"prefix":"10.21203","author":[{"given":"Daniel","family":"Asfaw","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of East Anglia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Charlotte","family":"Davies","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of East Anglia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elena","family":"Kulinskaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of East Anglia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christopher","family":"Fox","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Exeter"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Benedict Alan Harries","family":"Jones","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Evergreen Life"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jasmyn","family":"Gooding","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of East Anglia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"John","family":"Ford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Queen Mary University of London"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexander J","family":"MacGregor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of East Anglia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101860","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eclinm.2023.101860","article-title":"Global and regional prevalence of multimorbidity in the adult population in community settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"57","author":"Chowdhury SR","year":"2023","unstructured":"Chowdhury SR, et al. 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