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Geriatric Patients Show Greater Cognitive Decline after Hospitalization

A new report that suggests cognitive function tends to decline substantially when older patients are admitted to the hospital could be an opportunity for hospitalists to be proactive in developing interventional therapies to combat the deterioration.

"Cognitive Decline after Hospitalization in a Community Population of Older Persons," published last month in Neurology, found that patients' global cognitive score declined a mean of 0.031 units per year before the first hospitalization, compared with 0.075 units per year thereafter, a more-than-twofold increase. Similar declines were seen in episodic memory (a 3.3-fold increase post-hospitalization) and executive function (a 1.7-fold increase post-hospitalization), according to the survey. More severe illness, longer hospital stay, and older age were associated with even faster cognitive decline after hospitalization.

Full story of geriatric patients at The Hospitalist