Aleksandra Ciałkowska-Rysz, Mariusz Kowalczyk, Leszek Gottwald, Sylwia Kaźmierczak-Łukaszewicz 51.0% 49.0% 29.5% 70,5 All patients (n = 543) p < 0.001 16.5% 83.5% Patients under the age of 65 years (n = 204) Patients over the age 65 years (n = 339) Comorbidities present No comorbidities Figure 3. Incidence of comorbidities of patients with cancer disease in palliative home care 70 60 ] 50 % [cy 40 n eu30 q e rF 20 10 0 p < 0.001 p < 0.001 p = 0.003 p < 0.066 p = 0.012 Ischemic heart disease Arterial hyper- tension Diabetes Chronic pulmonary diseases Chronic CNS diseases Age ≤ 65 years (n = 204) Age > 65 years (n = 339) Figure 4. Prevalence of common comorbidities due to the age subgroups in the studied population 32 10 4 26 7 Cardiovascular diseases Cancers Respiratory diseases 48 Diabetes Other noncommunicable diseases Communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions Figure 5. Proportional mortality (% of total deaths, all ages) in Poland. World Health Organization – NCD Country Profiles, 2011 their mean number is between 2 and 3. As expect- ed, the occurrence of concomitant chronic diseases increases along with the age of patients. However, in the studied population the problem of comorbid- ity appeared especially in patients of the 7th decade of life and older (Figure 4). That results in an addi- tional burden for palliative care units in terms of additional costs of treatment and should be reflect- ed in the educational curriculum of physicians. The incidence of ischemic heart disease in our study was 47%, which is four times higher than in the general Polish population (11.3%) [5]. These data are consistent and confirm the fact that cardiovas- cular disease is the leading cause of death (48%) in Poland. Despite the fact that the Polish popula- tion is still characterized by a high proportion of subjects with high global risk of fatal cardiovascu- lar disease, especially among men, the death rate from coronary heart disease (from 1991 to 2005) significantly declined [14]. This decline was partial- ly due to the increased efficacy of treatment and major risk factor reduction [15]. Cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes are responsible for second, third and fourth place as cause of death, with rates of 26%, 3% and 2%, respectively (Figure 5) [16]. In Poland by 2030 mor- tality will increase, which will be the result of age- ing. Cardiovascular diseases will continue to be the most frequent causes of death but a significant increase of mortality due to diabetes mellitus and prostate cancer as well as malignant neoplasms of the colon, rectum and stomach will be observed [17]. All chronic diseases, except chronic pulmonary diseases (16.6% vs. 27.5% in the general popula- tion), are more frequent in older palliative patients, 500 Arch Med Sci 3, June / 2012