AGE DISTRIBUTION OF PATIENTS TREATED IN-HOSPITAL FOR CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY-DISEASE

A discharge register maintained by the National Research and Developme nt Centre for Welfare and Health was employed to study the use of hosp ital services, attributable to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD), in Finland. From a total population of 5 million CORD caused 11 3 016 hospital treatment periods during 1983-92 of persons aged 35 yea rs or over. In men the need of hospital treatment for COPD started to rise sharply after the age of 50. Men aged 73 had the highest amount o f admissions (3962 admissions per 10-year period). Women aged 68 had t he highest amount of admissions (802 admissions per 10-year period). T he highest admission rate per 1000 inhabitants was found for men at th e age of 82 (37.0 admissions per 1000 population/year) and for women a t the age of 77 (3.8 admissions per 1000 population/year). During the 10-year period a total of 27 008 new CORD patients aged 35 or over rec eived hospital care. The highest number of new admissions occurred amo ng both sexes at the age of 71 (750 admissions per 10-year period in m en and 233 admissions per 10-year period in women). This means that mo st of admissions are due to elderly COPD patients seeking treatment re peatedly. As the populations in the developed countries are ageing, th e significance of COPD for the health care system is growing.