Introduction:

The main cause of degenerative dementia is Alzheimer's disease. In the Cuban population, one in four people aged 65 and over dies from this disease or another form of dementia.

Objective:

To identify the risk factors associated with the clinical worsening of patients admitted with Alzheimer's disease at the Rene Vallejo Ortiz University Psychiatric Hospital.

Methods:

An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out. The universe was made up of all patients admitted to the aforementioned healthcare and teaching institution. The non-probabilistic sample and at the discretion of the authors was made up of 77 adult patients with the diagnosis of the disease in the indicated study period between January 2013 and December 2022. Medical records were the secondary source of information. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The information was summarized in tables and graphics.

Results:

90.6% were over 60 years old and more than half were male (54.5%). Most patients presented various associated symptoms. Personality and orientation disorders were found in 75.3%, while memory disorders were found in 72.7%.

Conclusions:

The clinical worsening after hospital admission was accentuated in those patients without schooling, single, unemployed, with cerebrovascular diseases and presence of dysfunctional families. Anemic patients or patients with signs of focal cortical irritation in the frontoparietal region with secondary generalization mostly presented clinical worsening.

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