| [ Summary ] |
The old-old (age 85 and older) population group is growing rapidly and the greatest increase is occurring in elderly (age 65 and older) dialysis patients. The recently introduced forms of dialysis for old-old and middle-old (ages 75 to 84) patients are effective, and these long term patients have steadily experienced increased improvement in convalesce. The aging of dialysis patients causes a great variety of problems, which must be solved. For example, the problem of complications, the increase in medical expenses (the costs of providing services with varying numbers of treatments and medical benefits), Caregiver burden on families etc. In the implementation of dialysis, in old-old and middle-old should consider the matter in relation to all aspects by which age related changes affect mobility and QOL for patients and families. We must obtain health histories, social support and so on. |