Dementia and Hospital Readmission Rates: A Systematic Review.

Background: Although community-dwelling persons with dementia have an increased risk of hospital readmission, no systematic review has examined the contribution of dementia to readmissions.

Summary: We examined articles in English, with no restrictions on publication dates, from Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and EMBASE. Keywords used were dementia , Alzheimer disease , frontotemporal lobar degeneration , elderly , frontotemporal dementia , executive function , brain atrophy , frontal lobe atrophy , cognitive impairment , readmission , readmit , rehospitalization , patient discharge , and return visit . Of 404 abstracts identified, 77 articles were retrieved; 12 were included. Four of 5 cohort studies showed significantly increased readmission rates in patients with dementia. On average the absolute increase above the comparison groups was from 3 to 13%. Dementia was not associated with readmission in 7 included case-control studies.

Key Message: Findings suggest a small increased risk of hospital readmission in individuals with dementia. More study is needed.