Using Standardized Cognitive Tools with General Medicine Populations and Impact on Hospital Readmission

Cognitive functioning is essential for participation in daily activities such as work, self-care, and home management. Occupational therapy practitioners play a key role in supporting these abilities through occupation-based interventions guided by standardized cognitive assessment. However, the use of such tools in acute care remains poorly understood, especially among the variety of general medicine populations occupational therapy serves in acute care. This cross-sectional, retrospective study aimed to describe the delivery of acute occupational therapy services including the types and frequency of cognitive evaluation tools administered and to examine the relationship between receipt of a cognitive evaluation and 30-day hospital readmission. Conducted at a single academic medical center, the study included 3,334 adult patients hospitalized on a general medicine unit who received occupational therapy services from an initial sample of 18,334 patients. Among the inclusion sample, 84.5% underwent a standardized cognitive assessment with receipt of a cognitive evaluation approaching significance for association of 30-day hospital readmission (p = .0537). Findings indicate that occupational therapy practitioners in acute care settings employ a variety of standardized cognitive screening and performance-based tools across diverse general medicine conditions and medical acuity. Further research is warranted to explore proximal factors, such as social support and prior functional performance, and their impact on 30-day hospital readmission.