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Background: Evidence is lacking on the differences between hospitalisation of people with dementia living in nursing homes and those living in the community. The objectives of this study were: 1) to describe the frequency of hospital admission among people with dementia in eight European countries living in nursing homes or in the community, 2) to examine the factors associated with hospitalisation in each setting, and 3) to evaluate the costs associated with it.Methods: The present study is a secondary data analysis of the RightTimePlaceCare European project. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with data collected from people with dementia living at home or who had been admitted to a nursing home in the last three months, as well as from their caregivers. Data on hospital admissions at three months, cognitive and functional status, neuropsychiatric symptoms, comorbidity, polypharmacy, caregiver burden, nutritional status, and falls were assessed using validated instruments. Multivariate regression models were used to investigate the factors associated with hospital admission for each setting. Costs were estimated by multiplying quantities of resources used with the unit cost of each resource and inflated to the year 2019.Results: The study sample comprised 1,700 people with dementia living in the community and nursing homes. Within three months, 13.8% and 18.5% of people living in nursing homes and home care, respectively, experienced ≥1 hospital admission. In the nursing home setting, only polypharmacy was associated with a higher chance of hospital admission, while in the home care setting, unintentional weight loss, polypharmacy, falls, and more severe caregiver burden were associated with hospital admission. Overall, the estimated average costs per person with dementia/year among participants living in a nursing home were lower than those receiving home care.Conclusion: Admission to hospital is frequent among people with dementia, especially among those living in the community, and seems to impose a remarkable economic burden. The identification and establishment of an individualised care plan for those people with dementia with polypharmacy in nursing homes, and those with involuntary weight loss, accidental falls, polypharmacy and higher caregiver burden in the home care setting, might help preventing unnecessary hospital admissions.

Background Hospitalisation is a critical moment for people with dementia and a major challenge for health care systems. The aims of this study were 1) to describe the frequency of hospital transfer among people with dementia from eight European countries, 2) to examine the factors associated with hospital transfer and 3) to evaluate the costs related with it. Methods The present study is a secondary data analysis of the RightTimePlaceCare European project. A cross-sectional survey was carried out with data collected from people with dementia who lived either at home or had been admitted to a nursing home in the last three months, as well as from their caregivers. Data on hospital transfers at three months were gathered with the "The Resource Utilization in Dementia" instrument. Demographic data, functional, cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms, comorbidity, polypharmacy, caregiver burden, nutritional status and falls were evaluated with validated tools. Multivariate regression models were used to investigate the factors associated with hospital transfers. Costs were estimated by multiplying quantities of resources used with the unit cost of each resource and inflated to the year 2018. Results The study sample comprised 1,700 people with dementia and their informal caregivers. Within three months, 16.7% experienced ≥ 1 hospital transfers. Multivariate logistic regression model showed a higher probability of hospital transfers among people with dementia with unintentional weight loss, polypharmacy, falls and those living in the community. The estimated costs per person with dementia/year among the participants living in a nursing home were 980.56 euros and 2,535.39 euros among those receiving home care. Conclusion Transfer to hospital is frequent among people with dementia, especially among those living in the community. These events are associated with the onset of geriatric syndromes such as involuntary weight loss, accidental falls and polypharmacy, and impose a remarkable economic burden. These results suggest that there is a need to develop and implement cost-effective supportive interventions that focus on the identification of people with dementia at risk of hospital transfer, the assessment and management of these geriatric syndromes and the promotion of individualised care planning for them, in order to prevent unnecessary hospital transfers.