‘What becomes of demented patients referred to a psychogeriatric unit?’ An approach to audit

A 1‐year follow‐up study was undertaken of a random sample of 40 elderly patients living at home given a diagnosis of "dementia" after referral to the Psychogeriatric Department at St Charles' Hospital, London, W10. Eighteen (45%) patients were admitted to institutional care. There was an association between physical disability and institutionalization. A similar tendency was observed for social disturbance and hospital admission. The 1‐year survival rate for the sample was 82.5%. All the seven patients who died were moderately/severely demented. Twenty‐three patients (55%) had informal key carers. Half of these showed considerable stress according to the General Health Questionnaire and the Strain Scale scores. All the recommendations made by the psychogeriatric team were carried out without much delay.