Introduction: Mortality, whether in or out of hospital, increases with age. However, studies evaluating in-hospital mortality in large populations did not distinguish between surgical and non-surgical causes of death, either in young or in elderly patients. The aim of the study was to assess in-hospital non-surgical mortality in a large group of patients, with a special focus on the elderly.Material and methods: Data from the database of the Polish National Health Fund (NHF) regarding hospitalizations of adult (≥ 18 years) patients not related to surgical procedures in the years 2009–2013 were used to assess in-hospital mortality.Results: 15,345,025 hospitalizations were assessed. The mean in-hospital non-surgery-related mortality rate was 3.96 ±0.17%, and increased from 3.79% to 4.2% between 2009 and 2013. The mean odds ratio for in-hospital death increased with the age of patients, reaching a 229-fold higher rate in the ≥ 95 years age group as compared to the 18–24 age group. The highest mean mortality was associated with respiratory diseases (6.91 ±0.20%), followed by heart and vascular diseases, nervous system diseases, as well as combined gastrointestinal tract, liver, biliary tract, pancreas and spleen diseases (5.65 ±0.27%, 5.46 ±0.05% and 4.01 ±0.13%, respectively).Conclusions: The in-hospital non-surgery-related mortality rate was approximately 4%. It significantly increased with age and, regardless of age, was highest in patients suffering from respiratory diseases.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a heterogeneous inflammatory arthritis, usually seronegative and associated with psoriasis (Ps). The prevalence and incidence of psoriatic arthritis show strong ethnic and geographic variations. The aim of the study was to assess the epidemiological trends in psoriatic arthritis in Poland. The National Health Fund (NHF) database for the period 2008–2018 was analyzed. PsA was defined as ICD-10 codes L40.5, M07, M07.0, M07.1, M07.2 and M07.3, while psoriasis as ICD-10 codes L40 and L40.X (L40.0 to L40.9). A steady increase in the number of PsA patients (from 16,790 to 32,644) and in PsA recorded prevalence (from 38.47 per 100,000 in 2008 to 73.11 per 100,000 in 2018) was observed between 2008 and 2018. The PsA/Ps ratio increased to a similar extent (from 8.3 to 17.5%). The percentage of PsA patients receiving rehabilitation services remained constant throughout the observation period (mean: 17.35%; range 16.7–18.9%). The study showed a steady and continuous increase in PsA recorded prevalence. A simultaneous increase in the PsA/Ps ratio suggests that the main reason for the observed trend is greater disease detection .

Introduction and objective: Some fragmentary studies show that the incidence of Lyme borreliosis in Poland is increasing. It has been generally accepted that the most affected are forestry workers and farmers. The aim of the study is to compare the incidence of borreliosis in urban and rural...

DOI: 10.20452/pamw.15185, Published online: February 11, 2020, Authors: Magdalena Walicka, Marcin Chlebus, Andrzej Śliwczyński, Melania Brzozowska, Daniel Rutkowski, Marcin Czech, Agnieszka Tuszyńska, Andrzej Jacyna, Monika Puzianowska-Kuźnicka, Edward Franek