Population ageing in the Czech Republic: challenges for the health and social system

Česká verzia

Authors: Soukupová Jitka ¹; Lichter Marek ¹; Jarkovský Jiří ^1,2
Authors place of work: Ústav zdravotnických informací a statistiky ČR, Praha ¹; Institut biostatistiky a analýz Lékařské fakulty Masarykovy univerzity, Brno ²
Published in the journal: Geriatrie a Gerontologie 2024, 13, č. 3: 150-155
Category: Original Article

Summary

The Czech Republic is facing a significantly ageing population, which poses new challenges for health and social systems. The number of people over 65 years of age accounts for about 20.6 % of the population, and by 2100 this group could reach almost a third of the population. The need for healthcare increases exponentially with age, with almost 64 % of people over 65 suffering from some form of chronic disease. Effective management of the needs of the elderly is essential to improve their quality of life and optimise healthcare resources. Data show that seniors in geriatric care have higher average Charlson Comorbidity Index scores and face more complex health challenges than seniors cared for outside of geriatric care. However, mapping the needs of geriatric patients based on available healthcare data is difficult because they are not defined by age alone, but have specific needs that transcend the healthcare system. In addition, there are significant regional differences in the availability of already significantly understaffed geriatric care. The introduction of new codes to describe health conditions and interventions and their consistent reporting may lead to more accurate identification of geriatric patients in health data and allow mapping of geriatric patients’ needs and adjustments to the healthcare system to be prepared for the demographic challenges associated with the ageing of the Czech population.

Keywords:

aging population, geriatric care, chronic diseases, Charlson Comorbidity Index, National Health Information System, National Registry of Reimbursed Health Services

Zdroje

1. Český statistický úřad. Demografická data [online].

2. Český statistický úřad. Statistiky VDB (czso.cz).

3. Turner G, Clegg A. Best practice guidelines for the management of frailty: a British Geriatrics Society, Age UK and Royal College of General Practitioners report. Age Ageing 2014; 43(6): 744–747.

4. Vetrano DL, Palmer K, Marengoni A. Společná akce ADVANTAGE WP4 Group. Křehkost a multimorbidita: Systematický přehled a metaanalýza. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2019; 74(5): 659–666.

5. Fried LP, et al. Frailty in older adults: evidence for a phenotype. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2001; 56(3): M146–M157.

6. Cesari M, et al. Frailty: an emerging public health priority. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2014; 15(5): 349–356.

7. Pongsupap Y, Pongsupap Y. Frailty as a predictor of hospitalization and low quality of life in geriatric patients at an internal medicine outpatient clinic: a cross-sectional study. MDPI Geriatrics 2020; 5(4): 1–15.

8. Dyer SM, et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical outcomes associated with frailty in older hospitalized patients. Age Ageing 2019; 48(1): 174–
184.

9. Doporučený postup ČGGS. Vaňková H, et al. Vyhodnocení syndromu křehkosti (frailty) u geriatrického pacienta. Klinický doporučený postup výboru ČGGS ČLS JEP. Geri a Gero 2023; 12(1): 5–8.

10. Deyo RA, Cherkin DC, Ciol MA. Adapting a clinical comorbidity index for use with ICD-9-CM administrative databases. J Clin Epidemiol 1992; 45(6): 613–619.

11. Nandyala Shyam, et al. Predictivity of the comorbidity indices for geriatric syndromes. BMC Geriatrics [online]. 2020 [cit. 2024-05-20]. Dostupné z: https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-020-01756-5.

12. Salvi F, et al. The Charlson comorbidity index as a predictor of outcome in patients admitted to a geriatric ward. Aging Clin Exp Res 2008; 20(5): 445–452.

13. Morley JE, et al. Frailty consensus: a call to action. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2013; 14(6): 392–397.