A special ward for elderly dementia patients
Jensen, H.V.; Andersen, J.
Ugeskrift for Laeger 150(36): 2115-2118
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-5782 PMID: 3188268 Document Number: 315933
At Vordingborg Psychiatric Hospital, a special ward for elderly patients with dementia was inaugurated on May 1st 1986. The aim of the ward is to carry out diagnostic clarification and treatment of elderly patients with severe degrees of dementia and also to estimate degree of dementia under optimal conditions. A review of first year admissions showed that out of 115 patients suspected of dementia, 21 (18,3%) were discharged with diagnoses other than dementia. Thirty-five other pyschiatric diagnoses than dementia were made, 22 of these belonging to affective disorders. After inauguration at the ward, the average time for diagnostic clarification of patients with senile dementia was reduced by 5.5 days to 27.8 days, while the number of treated patients was practically unchanged. The study suggests that admission for diagnostic clarification of elderly patients with severe degrees of dementia is justified.