Nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia were more likely to get readmitted to a hospital while the cost of care associated with the group was also more expensive compared to other residents, according to a recent study.

The study’s findings, released earlier this month by JAMA Network Open, call into question the fitness of Alzheimers and dementia patients to undergo medical or surgical treatment in an acute care setting without proper assessment.

While about 34% of hospitalized patients with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia go to a nursing home for recovery, a staggering 59% of them are readmitted to a hospital within a short time frame.

Meanwhile, 30-day total episode payments were “substantially higher” – $2,794 more – among these types of patients as well, the study found, compared to patients without Alzheimer’s or similar dementia diagnosis.

Also, the cost of re-hospitalization was about $22,371 for patients with Alzheimer’s or similar dementia while the general geriatric population saw a cost of $19,578 for their hospital stay.

The payment difference, which takes into account home health and inpatient rehabilitation as well as Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) stays, points to the SNF setting as the main driver for cost differences.

The study followed 722,911 hospitalization episodes in Michigan, the authors of the study said. Among all post-acute care settings, readmission rates were 21.5%, a higher statistic compared to the general geriatric population’s 14.7%.

Some procedures had notable cost differences for this patient population, including hip and knee joint replacements, cholecystectomies, and colectomies, according to the study. But, more research is needed to fully understand the link between particular procedures and readmission risk, researchers added.

Researchers suggested that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) account for patient case mix or “specific resource-intensive patient populations” to better curb rehospitalizations.

“Hospitals may need to be better equipped to care for patients with ADRD, especially in the postdischarge period,” researchers said of Alzheimer’s and related dementia patients. “Considering that any type of hospitalization may put patients with ADRD at a high risk of 30-day readmission, judicious preoperative assessment, postoperative discharge, and care planning are strongly advised for this vulnerable patient population.”

Hospitalization may expedite dementia and cognitive decline, elevating the risk of long-term institutionalization and premature death, according to the study.

Preoperative assessment should be considered in advanced cases of Alzheimer’s or a similar dementia to evaluate if a procedure would exacerbate health conditions down the line.