Giuseppe
Emeritus
[Source: Eurosurveillance, full page: (LINK). Extract, edited.]
C Suetens (
)<SUP>1</SUP>
Citation style for this article: Suetens C. Healthcare-associated infections in European long-term care facilities: how big is the challenge?. Euro Surveill. 2012;17(35)
ii=20259. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20259
Date of submission: 30 August 2012 <HR>
Europe is aging. The percentage of the population in the European Union (EU) aged 65 years and over increased from 9.6% in 1960 to 16.0% in 2010, and is projected to increase to 29.3% (152.6 million) in 2060 [1,2]. The population aged 80 years and over is projected to increase from 16.8 million (4.1%) in 2010 to 43.3 million (11.5%) in 2060, almost as many as the expected percentage of children (0?14 years, 15%) in 2060 [2,3]. At the same time, healthcare systems are striving for cost optimisation, which results, among other things, in shorter hospital stays and early discharge. These two factors combined have led to a rapid rise in the demand for nursing homes and other social and healthcare services for the elderly such as long-term care facilities (LTCFs), residential homes and home care. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated that across OECD countries (these include 22 countries of the EU and European Economic Area (EEA)), about 12% of the population aged 65 years and older received some form of long-term care service in 2009 , either at home (64.5% of the services) or in institutions (35.5%) [3]. Based on these figures, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) estimates the number of residents in LTCFs in the EU at approximately 3.7 million in 2010, a number that will certainly increase in the coming decades. (?)
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Eurosurveillance, Volume 17, Issue 35, 30 August 2012
Editorials
Healthcare-associated infections in European long-term care facilities: how big is the challenge?
Editorials
Healthcare-associated infections in European long-term care facilities: how big is the challenge?
C Suetens (
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden
Citation style for this article: Suetens C. Healthcare-associated infections in European long-term care facilities: how big is the challenge?. Euro Surveill. 2012;17(35)
ii=20259. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20259 Date of submission: 30 August 2012 <HR>
Europe is aging. The percentage of the population in the European Union (EU) aged 65 years and over increased from 9.6% in 1960 to 16.0% in 2010, and is projected to increase to 29.3% (152.6 million) in 2060 [1,2]. The population aged 80 years and over is projected to increase from 16.8 million (4.1%) in 2010 to 43.3 million (11.5%) in 2060, almost as many as the expected percentage of children (0?14 years, 15%) in 2060 [2,3]. At the same time, healthcare systems are striving for cost optimisation, which results, among other things, in shorter hospital stays and early discharge. These two factors combined have led to a rapid rise in the demand for nursing homes and other social and healthcare services for the elderly such as long-term care facilities (LTCFs), residential homes and home care. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated that across OECD countries (these include 22 countries of the EU and European Economic Area (EEA)), about 12% of the population aged 65 years and older received some form of long-term care service in 2009 , either at home (64.5% of the services) or in institutions (35.5%) [3]. Based on these figures, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) estimates the number of residents in LTCFs in the EU at approximately 3.7 million in 2010, a number that will certainly increase in the coming decades. (?)