[Inpatient rehabilitation with balneotherapy in the elderly--our experience over the last 10 years]

We describe 308 patients hospitalized for rehabilitation incorporating balneotherapy in our hospital between 1986 and 1996, with respect to age, place of residence, disease, duration of impairment, duration of hospitalization, reason for hospitalization, person taking care of the patient, and family size. Patients in eighth decade of life were the most common and 41% of the patients were residents of Kusatsu. Cerebral diseases were the most common (36%). The average length of hospitalization was 72 days. The reason for hospitalization, person taking care of patient and family size were compared between patients 60 to 79 years old and patients 80 years old or older. Many patients came from afar to our hospital with expectation of rehabilitation using balneotherapy. More than half of the patients 80 years old or older were admitted at their own request without a doctor's letter of introduction. The person who most often took care of a patient 80 years old or older was the patient's daughter in law. The average length of hospitalization of patients who were taken care of by their wife, husband, daughter, son, daughter in law, and nobody were 58, 71, 75, 114, 86, and 124 days, respectively. Many patients 60 to 79 years old lived alone or with another family member, but most of those 80 years old or older lived with at least 2 other family members. The lack of a definite goal for rehabilitation might have prolonged these patients' hospital stays. Balneotherapy might have given them an incentive to continue their rehabilitation and made their quality of life better.