Abstract
The first objective of this research is to establish and study how the different stages of cognitive impairment and the levels of dependence evolve in patients over 65 years of age, admitted to an acute care hospital, as well as the relationship between these factors and the different social and demographical variables. The results show that the level of dependence decreases suddenly at the time of admission and undergoes a slight recovery at the time of discharge. Although this recovery continues at home after discharge, patients do not get the same level of independence that they used to have before admission. In addition, significant differences in terms of age, marital status and education level were found. In general, our results show that elderly men over 80 years of age, without no education and widowers are more likely to suffer from severe cognitive impairment and be more functionally dependent when admitted to hospital.