Evidence mapPaperPMID 42065174Full record

ArticleMedicine2026

Serum vitamin B12 levels and 90-day outcomes in hospitalized patients with dementia: A cohort study.

Meng-Hsun Hsieh, Hsiu-Lan Weng, Kuo-Chuan Hung, I-Chia Teng, Yi-Chen Lai, I-Wen Chen

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Article in Medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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6 authors.

Meng-Hsun HsiehDepartment of Anesthesiology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
Hsiu-Lan WengDepartment of Anesthesiology, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Kuo-Chuan HungDepartment of Anesthesiology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
I-Chia TengDepartment of Anesthesiology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
Yi-Chen LaiDepartment of Anesthesiology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
I-Wen ChenDepartment of Anesthesiology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan, Taiwan.ORCID 0009-0004-7122-6901

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Elevated serum vitamin B12 levels have emerged as a paradoxical prognostic marker associated with increased mortality across various clinical settings, yet their significance in hospitalized dementia patients remains unexplored. Given the high vulnerability of this population, we aimed to investigate the association between elevated serum vitamin B12 levels and all-cause mortality. This retrospective cohort study evaluated 90-day outcomes in hospitalized adults with dementia who had serum vitamin B12 levels measured within 7 days of admission (2010-2024). Patients were categorized into exposure (vitamin B12 ≥ 900 pg/mL) and control (300-900 pg/mL) groups. Propensity score matching balanced baseline characteristics, including demographics, comorbidities, and laboratory parameters. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality within 90 days. Secondary endpoints comprised sepsis, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Sensitivity analyses restricted the cohort to patients with unspecified dementia and to patients with a dementia diagnosis established at least 1 year before the index admission. After propensity score matching, 16,513 patients were included in each cohort. Elevated vitamin B12 was significantly associated with increased 90-day mortality (10.9% vs 8.3%; odds ratio [OR] 1.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26-1.46, P < .001), sepsis (4.2% vs 3.0%; OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.27-1.61, P < .001), pneumonia (8.3% vs 6.6%; OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.18-1.39, P < .001), and ICU admission (3.9% vs 3.0%; OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.16-1.47, P < .001). No association was observed with urinary tract infection (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.90-1.04, P = .377). The findings remained robust across sensitivity and subgroup analyses. Elevated vitamin B12 levels are associated with increased short-term mortality, infectious complications, and ICU admission in hospitalized patients with dementia. This readily available biomarker may serve as a potential indicator for risk stratification in this vulnerable population. However, given the observational nature of this study, future prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings and elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Indexed as

DementiaVitamin B 12AgedAged, 80 and overBiomarkersCohort StudiesFemaleHospitalizationHumansIntensive Care UnitsMalePneumoniaPrognosisPropensity ScoreRetrospective StudiesSepsisBiomarkersVitamin B 12biomarkercobalamindementiamortalitypropensity score matchingvitamin B12

Identifiers

PMID42065174
PMCPMC13138491

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.