2008 Grants - Inouye

Impact of Hospitalization in Alzheimer's Disease: Risk Factors and Outcomes

Sharon K. Inouye, M.D.
Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged
Boston, Massachusetts

2008 Investigator-Initiated Research Grant

People with Alzheimer's disease are at high risk for hospitalization. In fact, older individuals with Alzheimer's are three times more likely to seek hospitalization than similarly aged individuals without the disease. Moreover, people with Alzheimer's who seek hospitalization have a high risk of suffering severe declines in health, long-term institutionalization and death. Yet hospital care for Alzheimer's disease has not been extensively studied, and little is known about the precise causes and results of such care.

For their proposed grant, Sharon K. Inouye, M.D., and colleagues will study the causes and effects of hospitalization in 681 participants with Alzheimer's. These individuals will be selected from a group that had participated in the Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center from 1996 to 2006. Dr. Inouye's team will examine the frequency of hospitalization, the leading medical reasons for admission, the risk factors for hospitalization and the outcomes of hospital care for these individuals. Such efforts will involve the assessment of cognitive test results, medical exam records and other pertinent data.

Results of Dr. Inouye's study could lead to improvements and efficiencies in hospital care for Alzheimer's disease. The results could also provide a basis for future investigations to determine whether prevention or shortening of hospital stays might reduce or delay Alzheimer progression.