Joint effect of cognitive impairment and socio-family status on functional status in hospitalized older adults

Abstract

Introduction: The objective of this study was to evaluate the joint effect of cognitive impairment and socio-family condition on the functional status in hospitalized older adults. Method: A retrospective cohort included 399 older adults between 2014 and 2015. The primary outcome was functional status assessed by Lawton and Brody Scale in four times. Cognitive impairment was assessed with the MiniMental State examination and the socio-family condition with the Gijón Socio-family Scale. Results: It was found that 54% had social deterioration and 86% had cognitive impairment. In multivariate analyzes, advanced age, prolonged hospital stay, low albumin, cognitive impairment, delirium, and social deterioration were significantly associated with worse functional status. Conclusions: This study suggests that the joint effect between cognitive impairment and social deterioration compromises the functional status more than each factor separately.