Cognitive impairment in elderly home health clients

Cognitive impairment is a serious and pervasive problem for ill elderly persons in the institutional setting. Older individuals exit these facilities quickly, often requiring continued formal health care services in their homes. The prevalence of delirium and/or dementia in older, medically ill home health clients has not been investigated. It was the purpose of this descriptive study to systematically screen a sample of elderly admissions to a visiting nurse association for cognitive impairment. One hundred individuals over the age of sixty-five were given the Mini-Mental State Exam (Folstein, Fols-tein & McHugh, 1975) on admission to the agency. Information on demographics and health status was retrieved from routine chart forms.Prevalence of impairment was 61%. Impaired individuals differed significantly from their intact counterparts in relation to race, functional limitations, institutional length-of-stay and use of medications impacting on the central nervous system.