BPSD are common in older hospital patients with dementia and associated with considerable distress in nursing staff, as well as a wide range of special treatments needs and additional behavioural and medical complications. Management strategies are needed to improve the situation for both patients and hospital staff.

I n 2016, 8.56 million older patients were treated on an inpatient basis in general hospital departments in Germany. This is equivalent to 44.7% of all inpatients of all age groups. The length of hospital stay of patients aged 65 or older was considerably longer compared with that of younger patients (8.1 days versus 4.9 days); as the result, older patients accounted for 57.1% of all days of inpatient treatment, making them the largest group of inpatients (1). A considerable number of older hospitalized patients with physical illnesses also suffer from dementia and related cognitive impairments. However, the exact number of patients experiencing these health problems is currently not known. Previous studies were almost impossible to compare because the methods they used varied widely and they typically comprised small, non-Working Group Psychiatric Epidemiology,

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