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. 2016 Mar 3:14:Doc03.
doi: 10.3205/000230. eCollection 2016.

Prevalence of chronic diseases among older patients in German general practices

Louis Jacob  1 , Jessica Breuer  2 , Karel Kostev  3
Affiliations

Prevalence of chronic diseases among older patients in German general practices

Louis Jacob et al. Ger Med Sci. .

Abstract
in English, German

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of chronic diseases (CDs) among older patients in German general practices (GPs).

Methods: A total of 840,319 patients older than 65 years (359,289 male and 481,030 female) who consulted a GP between January and December 2014 were selected. Ten different CDs were considered: hypertension, lipid metabolism, diabetes, coronary heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, stroke, chronic kidney disease and osteoporosis. The prevalence, defined as the proportion of patients diagnosed with these disorders, was estimated.

Results: All CDs were very common in older subjects. Hypertension was the most common CD, affecting 65.7% of men and 66.1% of women. Stroke was the least frequent CD, with 6.6% of men and 5.1% of women displaying this condition. More than one out of two subjects had between one and three CDs (men: 57.7% and women: 59.3%). Approximately 25% of subjects had four or more CDs (men: 26.6% and women: 23.6%).

Conclusions: Our study showed that the prevalence of CDs is high in the German elderly population. Hypertension was the most frequent chronic condition and around 25% of patients displayed at least four CDs.

Hintergrund: Das Ziel dieser Studie ist es, die Häufigkeit von chronischen Erkrankungen bei älteren Patienten in deutschen hausärztlichen Praxen zu ermitteln.Methoden: Es wurden insgesamt 840.319 Patienten im Alter über 65 Jahre (359.289 Männer und 481.030 Frauen) mit mindestens einer Visite beim Hausarzt zwischen Januar und Dezember 2014 identifiziert. Zehn unterschiedliche chronische Erkrankungen wurden untersucht: Hypertonie, Hyperlipidämie, Diabetes, koronare Herzkrankheit (KHK), Krebs, chronisch obstruktive Lungenerkrankung (COPD), Herzinsuffizienz, Schlaganfall, Niereninsuffizienz und Osteoporose. Prävalenz wurde definiert als der Anteil der Patienten mit der jeweiligen Diagnose. Ergebnisse: Alle untersuchten Diagnosen waren häufig bei älteren Patienten. Am häufigsten wurde die Hypertonie diagnostiziert (65,7% der Männer und 66,1% der Frauen). Am seltensten war die Schlaganfall-Diagnose (6,6% der Männer und 5,1% der Frauen). 57,7% der Männer und 59,3% der Frauen hatten zwischen zwei und drei unterschiedliche chronische Erkrankungen; ca. 25% hatten vier oder mehr der untersuchten Diagnosen.Schlussfolgerungen: In dieser Studie konnte eine hohe Prävalenz der chronischen Erkrankungen bei älteren Patienten gezeigt werden. Dabei wurde Hypertonie am häufigsten diagnostiziert und ca. 25% hatten mindestens vier der untersuchten Erkrankungen.

Keywords: Germany; older patients; prevalence of chronic diseases.

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Figures

Table 1
Table 1. Age and gender of older patients with chronic diseases in German general practices
Figure 1
Figure 1. Prevalence of chronic diseases among patients over 65 years of age treated in German general practices
Figure 2
Figure 2. Number of different chronic diseases among patients over 65 years of age treated in German general practices
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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