Eric Larson, MD, MPH, executive director of Group Health Research Institute and senior author of the paper
Older patients hospitalized for acute care or a critical illness are more likely to experience cognitive decline compared to older adults who are not hospitalized, according to a University of Washington study conducted among older Group Health members and published in the February 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
A large proportion of patients who are hospitalized for acute care or care of a critical illness are older adults. Some studies have suggested that many survivors of critical illness experience long-term cognitive impairment, but these studies did not measure cognitive function before a critical illness, according to background information in the article. (more…)
