The Clock-in-the-Box, a brief cognitive screen, is associated with failure to return home in an elderly hospitalized...

Cognitive screening upon hospital admission can provide important information about the patient's ability to process information during the inpatient stay. The Clock-in-the-Box (CIB) is a rapidly administered cognitive screening measure which has been previously validated with cognitive screening and neuropsychological assessments. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the predictive validity of the CIB for discharge location among a sample of older medical inpatients.

Hospitalized Veterans (N=218), aged 55 years and older, were recruited on the day after admission after they gave their consent. These participants completed the CIB, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and self-report measures of daily functioning. Using logistic regression models, the bivariable and multivariable impact of the cognitive screening and functional assessments were examined for their ability to predict whether the participants did not return home after hospitalization (eg, admission to subacute rehabilitation facilities or nursing facilities).

The participants were older (mean 71.5±9.5 years) and predominantly male (92.7%). The CIB score was independently associated with discharge to locations other than home (odds ratio =0.72, 95% confidence interval =0.60-0.87, P=0.001) and remained associated after adjusting for demographics, prehospitalization functional abilities, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment score (adjusted odds ratio =0.55, 95% confidence interval =0.36-0.83, P=0.004).

The current evidence, combined with its brevity and ease of use, supports the use of the CIB as a cognitive screen for inpatient older adults, in order to help inform clinical treatment decisions and discharge planning.