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Giuseppe Bellelli, MD; Angelo Bianchetti, MD; Marco Trabucchi, MD

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We read with great interest the article by Leslie et al¹ on the costs associated with delirium. We would like to contribute to the topic with our own data, confirming the high burden of delirium in elderly patient care. We recently observed that delirium is a determinant of hospital readmission and institutionalization after discharge from a rehabilitation unit.² Furthermore, we demonstrated that patients with delirium during hospital admission have a lower functional level 1 year later compared with controls.³ These data are by themselves indirect indicators of higher costs (increased use of hospital and nursing homes). However, what is most important is the rate of functional impairment induced by delirium because delirious patients, once returning home, require a higher level of care in basic and instrumental activities of daily living. In Italy, the role of caregiving for elderly patients is usually . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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RELATED ARTICLE

One-Year Health Care Costs Associated With Delirium in the Elderly Population
Douglas L. Leslie, Edward R. Marcantonio, Ying Zhang, Linda Leo-Summers, and Sharon K. Inouye
Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(1):27-32.
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