OBJECTIVES:Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) is one of the leading health problems faced today, with an increase in hospitalized patients. This study compared patients’ socio-demographic, clinical characteristics, and determined national estimates of incidence, prevalence, inpatient mortality, resource utilization and related predictors for the United States hospitalized AD/ADRD patients.

METHODS: Using the Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) with ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM codes, we analyzed retrospective cohorts of adults aged >18 years admitted to the U.S. hospitals between 2010 and 2015. Descriptive analyses were conducted for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Multivariate analyses were conducted for healthcare resources utilization and predictors.

RESULTS: Of 83,243,478 adults discharged from U.S. hospitals (2010–2015); 529,198 were diagnosed with AD/ADRD. The yearly inpatient incidence of AD/ADRD ranged from 47,569 (2010) to 41,154 (2015) (P <.0001), encompassing nearly 0.65% of all hospitalizations. Over the study time-horizon, mortality of inpatients with AD/ADRD decreased from 3. 60% to 1.73% (P <.0001). The average length of inpatient staysincreased from 7.35 to 8.89 days (P <.0001). The average inpatient charges increased from $30,259 to $35,896 per case (P <.0001). Moreover, the total national charges related to AD/ADRD decreased from $3,543 million (2010) to $ 2,594 million (2015). Although the majorityof patients (97%) were late-onset AD/ADRD (> mid-60s), nearly 3% of patientswere early-onset(30–mid-60s). Predictors of inpatient mortality included the number of diagnoses per admission (odds ratio [OR]=1.099; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09 to 1.11 per diagnosis), number of procedures per admission (OR=1.140 per procedure; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.16), and mortality score (OR=1.018; 95% CI, 0.98 to 1.06). The most important predictors of cost, charge, and length of stay were identified (P <.05).

CONCLUSIONS: This study providesup-to-date evidence on characteristics and healthcare resources utilization associated with AD/ADRD patients discharged from 2010 to 2015 from U.S. hospitals.