[Impact of hospital admission on centenarians admitted due to an acute illness. A description of a series of 165 cases and comparison with the literature].

INTRODUCTION: The number of centenarians is increasing with the aging of the Spanish population. This age group might present different clinical features from younger groups. This study was carried out to determine the impact hospital admission on centenarians with an acute disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted that included patients ≥100 years-old admitted from 1995 to 2016 to a third level university hospital and attended by the Geriatrics department in the acute ward, the Orthogeriatric ward, and by request. An analysis was made using the clinical-administrative databases containing information about the demographics, clinical, functional and cognitive features, length of hospital length, as well as discharge destination.

RESULTS: The study included 165 patients with a mean age of 101.6 ± 1.7 (range 100-109) years, of whom 140 (85%) were female. The mean hospital stay was 10.3 ± 7.4 days. Respiratory infections (41%) were the most common cause of admission to the Acute Geriatric Unit (AGU). The overall in-hospital mortality was 16%, but mortality in AGU reached up to 31%. There was an increase on moderate-severe functional disability (51% to 96%), and on the inability to walk independently (52% to 99%) from baseline to admission. There was a reduction in people living in their own home from 71% prior to admission to 29% at hospital discharge.

CONCLUSIONS: Centenarians who required hospital admission showed a high rate of mortality, a significant deterioration in their functional capacity, and a decrease in their chances of going back to their own home at discharge.