The comparison of common cancer types and the coincidence of concomitant chronic diseases between palliative home care patients in Lodz Voivodeship and the general Polish population Table III. Prevalence of chronic conditions per person by age group and gender in studied population and general Polish population Gender Females study group* Females general population# Males study group* Males general population# 15-19 20-29 (n = 0) (n = 0) 0 0 0.4 0.4 (n = 0) (n = 1) 0 1 0.3 0.4 Age groups [years] 30-39 (n = 3) 0 0.7 (n = 1) 0 0.6 40-49 (n = 12) 0.1 ±0.3 1.3 (n = 7) 1.1 ±1.8 1.0 50-59 (n = 43) 0.7 ±1.0 2.2 (n = 48) 0.7 ±1.2 1.7 60-69 (n = 62) 1.3 ±1.6 3.1 (n = 81) 1.4 ±1.5 2.4 70-79 (n = 76) 2.0 ±1.5 3.7 (n = 92) 2.3 ±1.5 3.2 80 3.8 3.4 (n = 62) (n = 259) 2.6 ±1.5 1.6 ±1.6 (n = 52) (n = 284) 2.9 ±1.5 1.8 ±1.7 Total 1.7 1.2 *Not including cancer diseases, #data available from the Central Statistical Office in Poland in 2009 ferences in occurrence of concomitant diseases between male and female groups (p = 0.2). The Kruskal-Wallis test in ICD-10 cancer sub- groups revealed that there might be some statisti- cal differences in mean numbers of the concomi- tant diseases depending on the basic diagnosis of cancer (p = 0.012). Detailed analysis revealed a sta- tistical difference in numbers of concomitant dis- eases in the subgroup of upper gastrointestinal tract cancer vs. other cancer patients (p = 0.028). In this group of patients the mean number of con- comitant diseases was less than in all other diag- nosed cancer cases (1.27 vs. 1.78). There were also statistically significant differences with a higher mean number of concomitant diseases for prostate cancer patients than in other subgroups (2.41 vs. 1.69; p = 0.007). The correlation between chronic concomitant diseases and primary cancer location was tested using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient with Bonferroni correction. However, only a weak statistically significant correlation was found between chronic pulmonary diseases and lung can- cer (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient 0.20; p < 0.00125). A positive correlation between patient age and the number of concomitant diseases was found (R = 0.48; p < 0.001). Analysis based on the age decades revealed that there is not statistically sig- nificant growth of the mean number of concomi- tant diseases between the decades 4 to 6, and fast growth in the decade groups 6 to 9 (p < 0.001). This supported the planned separation of younger patients (up to 65 years old; group I) from older ones (over 65 years old; group II) in the further analysis of the occurrence of particular disorders. Group I included 204 patients (37.6%) and group II included 339 patients (62.4%) (p < 0.001). The occurrence of concomitant diseases in younger patients was lower than compared to the occur- rence in older ones (49.0% vs. 83.5%; p < 0.001; Fig- ure 3). The number of concomitant disorders in younger patients versus older differed significant- ly (0.91 vs. 2.23; p < 0.001). Lower occurrence of arterial hypertension (p < 0.001), ischemic heart dis- ease (p < 0.001), diabetes (p = 0.003), central nerv- ous system diseases (p = 0.012), and (not signifi- cantly) chronic pulmonary diseases (p = 0.066) was observed in younger patients (Figure 4). Discussion Polish society is an ageing population. In 1980 elderly people (65 years and more) accounted for 10.0% of the total population, whilst in 2010 their proportion grew to 13.6% and in the projection for 2030 it will rise to 22.3%. At the same time the total Polish population will decrease in size (Table I). This will lead to growth of the number of patients with chronic diseases, as they are closely associated with age [9, 10]. Cancer is a growing health and eco- nomic problem in Poland. There are around 156 000 new cancer cases per year in Poland and almost 93 000 deaths annually due to neoplasm. The inci- dence of cancer is 356/105 for men and 332/105 for women. The mortality rate for all cancers was 283/105 for men and 207/105 for women [11]. An exponential age dependence of incidence rates is present in both genders [11, 12]. The studied population differed in terms of gen- der and age structure in comparison to the general Polish population. There were slightly more men than women admitted to the home care unit but the difference was not statistically significant. This is consistent with other cohort studies and reflects general observations [13]. However, there are more women than men in the general population in Poland and the ratio increases with age. This could mean that men require home care more often than women. The majority (70.5%) of the studied popu- lation had at least one concomitant common chron- ic disease, with ischemic heart disease as the most common. It should be underlined that if there are concomitant diseases in palliative care patients, Arch Med Sci 3, June / 2012 499