Rehabilitation in Elderly Patients

The number of older people is growing rapidly worldwide. Today, more than 580 million people are older than 60 years and the number is projected to rise to 1000 million by 2020. The proportion of the population over 80 years, the so-called “old-old,” is increasing most rapidly. Life expectancy at all ages is also increasing. At 65 years, life expectancy ranges from 14.9 to 18.9 years and at 80 years from 6.9 to 9.1 years for men and women, respectively.With the increase in life expectancy, the leading causes of death have shifted dramatically from infectious diseases to non-communicable diseases. Cardiovascular disease is the most frequent single cause of death in persons over 65 years of age, and most importantly it is responsible for considerable morbidity and a large burden of disease, particularly in the community.1