International journal of geriatric psychiatry
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Jan 2004
Poor mental and physical health differentially contributes to disability in hospitalized geriatric patients of different ages.
To evaluate the relationship between depressive symptoms, cognition and somatic diseases on functional status of geriatric patients at hospital discharge. ⋯ Functional disability after acute hospitalization is highly prevalent in geriatric patients. Depressive symptoms, comorbidity, and cognitive impairment often coexist, interact and are differentially associated with function depending on age. Considering that depressive symptoms are a modifiable problem, their detection in hospital settings may help clinicians in targeting subjects at high risk of functional disability.