In Japan @entity378 is becoming rapidly the disease of the elderly. We studied the background, the type and level of hospital cares needed, and the outcome of @entity1 with @entity1907 (sputum smear and/or culture positive) above the age of 75 who were admitted to 8 national hospitals during the period from January 1 to December 31, 1997. The study included 150 @entity1 (male: 109, female: 41, mean age: 81.6), of whom 25% needed care in a single-bed room, 84.3% had underlying diseases ( @entity65 : 43.3%, malignant diseases: 20.9%, neuro-psychiatric diseases: 13.4%), and 47.6% needed cares mainly in feeding and excretions. 92 @entity1 (62.6%) improved and 45 @entity1 (30.6%) died, of whom the cause of @entity204 was directly related to @entity378 in 42. The mean hospital stay was 4.7 months. However, in 42 @entity1 whose cause of @entity204 was related to @entity378 , 66% died within 3 months, while in 102 @entity1 who were discharged 71% stayed more than 3 months. The same comparison was done in 508 @entity1 with bacteriologically proven @entity378 above the age of 75 admitted to National Tokyo Hospital during the period from 1990 to 1999. The result was almost the same, among 133 @entity1 died in the hospital 60% died within 3 months, while in 375 @entity1 who were discharged hospital stay was more than 3 months in 70%. In the near future, the elderly will occupy more than 25% of the beds of the @entity378 ward in Japan and most of them have underlying diseases other than @entity378 . Because @entity378 , once the disease of the young, is becoming rapidly the disease of the elderly, it is imperative for us to make necessary adjustments to meet this inevitable trend.

[ XXXX of the elderly (above the age of 75) in national hospitals].

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity378 :: ('MESH:D014376', 'Disease') :: ['tuberculosis'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death'] @entity65 :: ('MESH:D002318', 'Disease') :: ['cardiovascular diseases'] @entity1907 :: ('MESH:D014397', 'Disease') :: ['pulmonary tuberculosis']
@entity378 :: (MESH:D014376,Disease) :: ['Tuberculosis']
