A new study now finds that emergency and urgent hospitalisations are associated with an increase in the rate of cognitive decline in older adults.The report was conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Centre and the results of their study were published in the online issue of Neurology. The study shows that hospitalisation may be a more of a major risk factor for long-term cognitive decline in older adults than previously recognised.Speaking about the study, Bryan James, who is associated with the study, said, "We found that those who have non-elective (emergency or urgent) hospitalisations and who have not previously been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's disease had a rapid decline in cognitive function (i.e., thinking abilities) compared to the prehospital rates."The epidemiologist and assistant professor in the Rush Department of Internal Medicine further added that in comparison, people who were never hospitalised and those who had elective hospitalisations did ..
