Cognitive-disorder diagnoses in inpatient psychosomatic-medicine consultations: associations with age and length of stay

Authors reviewed consecutive charts of 155 cognitive-disorder patients from a psychosomatic medicine service in 2001, analyzing factors of age, cognitive-disorder diagnosis, and length of stay. Mean length of stay for this cohort exceeded the typical hospital length of stay, and decreased with age. Increased age was associated with a decreased probability of a delirium-only diagnosis, and was strongly associated with an increased probability of a dementia diagnosis. Among those with dementia, the probability of having an additional diagnosis of delirium was unrelated to age. The case-mix of cognitive disorders differs with age, whereas cognitive disorders are associated with increased length of stay for adult patients of all ages.