Multi-aspect overview of mineral-water-based therapies of musculoskeletal disorders in Hungary

Abstract

Demographic transformation, characterized by the aging of the population, is causing an increasing problem in developed countries. This change involves a significant increase in the number of chronic diseases, the health damage generated by which causes loss of life years due to deteriorating health and impairs quality of life. Among chronic diseases, the increasing frequency of musculoskeletal disorders has become characteristic of an aging society, which causes the greatest loss of life years in Hungary due to limitations. These problems mean increasing social, economic, and administrative pressure on the population and pose solution challenges for the spa town leaders and health decision-makers. There are several therapies available in the medical and health sciences to prevent and treat musculoskeletal disorders, with increasing emphasis on conservative therapies as the role of health increases. In Hungary, among these procedures, medicinal water treatment services based on natural healing factors available in spa towns play a key role, which is also the basis of medical tourism and part of the health care system. To solve the problems caused by musculoskeletal disorders, it is essential to know the occurrence of the disease and the treatment-use attitude of the patients, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the main goal of our research is to assist spa towns leaders and health decision-makers in the implementation of medical tourism developments and more optimal patient care. One of the part-aims of our research is to reveal the regional differences of the most common musculoskeletal diseases in Hungary based on secondary data. Our other research-part objective is to determine the impact of socio-demographic characteristics, health status, type of musculoskeletal disease, pain, and commitment to bath medicine care system on the future use of medicinal water treatment in patients with musculoskeletal disorders. Based on our results, we declare that the health status of the Hungarian population in terms of the most frequently occurring locomotor diseases is worst in Central Hungary, the greater part of the Southern Great Plain, and the northeastern part of the country. In terms of territory, we concluded that the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders is relatively low, and moderate inequality in Hungary. It also follows from our results that the indicators measuring regional differences selected can be successfully applied to examine the territorial inequalities of musculoskeletal diseases concerning medical tourism. We also found that the respondents' level of family income, place of residence by region, state of health, the degree of commitment to medicinal water treatment/service was found, furthermore the cost of treatment, and the cost of accommodation /travel, significantly affect the planned use of the medicinal water treatment in the future. Our results promote the implementation of more targeted medical tourism and health industry developments in spa towns.