Outcome and cognitive assessment of subjects over 65 years old admitted to the psychiatric ward

Objectives. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical routine interventions in an adult psychiatric ward inpatients aged over 65.

Methods. The study has a prospective cohort observational design. A consecutive sample of 166 (91 F) patients (mean age = 71.2 years, SD = 5.7years) admitted to the psychiatric ward of the Cesena Hospital between January 2015 and December 2023 was enrolled. The mean diagnoses were: major depression (N = 58), bipolar disorder (N = 46), psychosis (N = 16), and dementia (N = 8). At patient admission and discharge, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) for psychiatric symptoms, the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) for Social and relational functioning, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) were administered.

Results. At the MANOVA, we found a significant effect of treatment, for psychopathological symptoms and socio-relational functioning, but not for general cognitive functioning and decrease in CDT score with age. No differences were found for diagnosis and gender. 

Conclusions. The present study provided important insights about the effectiveness of clinical interventions applied to aged 65+ inpatients. The relevance of these results is particularly pronounced considering the increasing heterogeneity of the elderly population with psychiatric issues and the complexity of the treatments needed to address coexisting conditions and polypharmacy.