People are becoming more and more health conscious and want only the best for their own bodies. Thus, health-oriented training or courses in the field of rehabilitation and prevention courses in fitness studios are often no longer a rarity and are well received. And physiotherapy also plays an important role - it is one of the most frequently used health services by Germans. Thanks to a study by the Robert Koch Institute, concrete figures are available on this, providing information on who in Germany makes use of physiotherapy services, where these people live or what their level of education is. You can find out more about the study here!
Health in Germany up to date (GEDA)
In order to be able to say something about the state of health of the population, the Robert Koch Institute (central institution of the Federal Government in the field of disease monitoring and prevention) regularly carries out health surveys throughout Germany. This GEDA study (Gesundheit in Deutschland aktuell - Health in Germany up-to-date) aims to obtain reliable information regarding the health status, health behavior and health care of the German population. One part of the study from 2014/2015 revolved around the utilization of physiotherapeutic services.
The study on the utilization of physiotherapeutic services in Germany involved approx. 24,000 people aged 18 and over took part, of whom around 13,000 women and 11,000 men. Respondents completed a questionnaire that asked the following question, which could be answered either "yes" or "no":
"In the past 12 months, have you seen a physical therapist for self-counseling, examination, or treatment?"
Seeing a physical therapist for back pain
The statements of the survey participants were completed by data of the AOK. According to this, the most common reason for visiting a physiotherapist is a musculoskeletal disorder: about one-third visited in 2015 due to Back pain about one-third sought physiotherapy treatment for back pain, and almost ten percent for osteoarthritis. Other musculoskeletal disorders as well as neurological disorders (e.g. stroke) were also given as reasons.
Results of the study
The GEDA study found that the use of physiotherapy services depends not only on medical factors, but also on many other factors:
→ Gender
21.7 percent, i.e. more than one-fifth of the German population, stated that they had received physiotherapeutic treatment within twelve months. Of these 25.5 percent of women and 17.7 percent of men a physiotherapist.
→ Age
The most common age group to consult a physiotherapist is the 50- to 59-year-olds by a physical therapist. Here it is 30.7 percent of women and 20.1 percent of men. It is noticeable that the use of physiotherapeutic services increases significantly with age. In comparison, the 18- to 29-year-olds: Here only 20 percent of women and 13 percent of men said they had visited a physiotherapist in the last twelve months.
After peaking among 50- to 59-year-olds, however, the use of these services drops off again from there on as age increases.
→ Education level
The study found that members of the upper educational group go to the physical therapist more often than people with lower education. For medical services, too, people who are socially better off tend to use more specialized as well as preventive services more frequently than members of the lower education group. This also applies to physiotherapy services.
→ Insured status
Privately insured use physiotherapy services more often than those with statutory insurance. This may be due to the fact that, on average, privately insured persons have a higher level of income and education than statutorily insured persons. In addition, members of statutory health insurance funds have to pay ten percent of the treatment costs plus ten euros per prescription themselves, while private health insurance offers insurance tariffs without co-payments. Many people therefore also forgo physiotherapy treatment for financial reasons.
→ Location
There are also regional differences in the use of physiotherapy services. For example, these are used by people from the new federal states more frequently than by residents of the old federal states. 29.2 percent of the population in Saxony had physiotherapeutic treatment in the last twelve months, while only 18.0 percent in Hesse only 18.0 percent were.
Alarming is the prescribing behavior of physicians, which is extremely uneven from region to region. If physiotherapy is necessary due to an illness, it is prescribed in Saxony 57 percent of patients in Saxony are prescribed it by their doctors, in Hesse but only 38 percent.
In addition to fitness equipment, fitnessmarkt.de also offers a wide range of rehabilitation and therapy equipment as well as medical training equipment!
Editors fitnessmarkt.de (SIS)
Picture source: javi_indy - freepik and geda-studie.de
Published on: 15 June 2018