Older patients acutely admitted and readmitted to the same geriatric department: a descriptive cohort study of primary diagnoses and health characteristics.

Purpose: Advancing age is associated with increased risk for acute admissions and readmissions. The societal challenges of ageing populations have made the prevention of readmissions come into focus. Readmission may be perceived as the result of inadequate treatment during index admission but may also be caused by the onset of new disease following a generally impaired health of geriatric patients.