title: The contribution of cognitive impairment, medical burden, and psychopathology to the functional status of geriatric psychiatric inpatients.
abstract: In order to define the contributions of cognitive impairment, medical burden, and psychopathology to the functional status of geriatric psychiatric patients, a forward-looking, retrospective study of 106 consecutive admissions to a geriatric psychiatric unit at the Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center Hospital was done. It was found that psychopathology and cognitive status, but not medical burden, contributed to the variance in functional status of geriatric psychiatric inpatients for both admission scores and for changes in scores during hospitalization. Improvements in cognitive state and psychopathology were associated with improvements in functional status during hospitalization.
authors.affiliation: Veterans Affairs Medical Center Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Kunik
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Benton
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Snow-Turek
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Molinari
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Orengo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Workman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000523:psychology*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D019954:Neurobehavioral Manifestations / Q000145:classification*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011599:Psychopathology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013781:Texas