[Expansion or reduction of geriatric care structures in Germany? A critical analysis on the significance of the official statistics and other surveys].

The legal survey basis for the hospital statistics of the Statistisches Bundesamt (German Federal Statistical Office) affecting the recording of data starting in the year 2002 has been also adjusted to improve the quality of information on geriatric care structures. The basic hospital statistics data for the year 2003 published in April 2005 report 171 geriatric hospital facilities for in-house treatment and 97 for partial in-house treatment as well as 74 geriatric rehabilitation facilities for inpatient treatment. In an additional internal investigation, another 46 geriatric rehabilitation facilities for outpatient treatment were ascertained for the year 2003. Compared to other, earlier surveys, the Statistisches Bundesamt reports an almost equal number of geriatric care facilities in the hospital sector, but a far lower number of such facilities in the sector of rehabilitation facilities for inpatient treatment, and therefore is highly incomplete. Hence, despite modified recording conditions, the official statistics do not provide a realistic representation of geriatric care structures. Under consideration of these limitations and corresponding corrections, the average geriatric care ratio (inpatient and partial inpatient or out-patient geriatric treatment places in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities per 10,000 persons aged 65 and above) amounted to 10.2 geriatric treatment units in 1997, 12.2 in 2000, and 12.3 in 2003. There were significant differences regarding the total capacity and the shares of different kinds of geriatric care structures in the individual federal states. All in all, that means that the expansion of geriatrics that had taken place until the year 2000 has slowed down significantly over recent years and has largely been limited to demographic adjustments. As far as the relevance of reliable numbers on the existence of geriatric care structures for requirement planning, secondary statistics, and state-related comparative analyses is concerned, the ongoing weaknesses of the hospital statistics must be taken into account when developing corresponding interpretations. They call for examining further improvements of the procedure of recording geriatric facilities for the official statistics. So far, they are no reliable basis for cross-sectional analysis.