(1) describe the major complaints of individuals living with dementia who present to the ED. (2) evaluate the associated comorbidities of individuals living with dementia. (3) describe the associated costs to individuals living with dementia.

We completed a database search of articles published between 2009 and 2019 from EBSCOhost and PubMed. 36 articles out of 1820 met the criteria for full-text review and 18 articles were included in our review. 3 articles were obtained from the references of reviewed articles. Topics included were: direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer’s disease, incidence, and prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease, ED encounters for Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease confers a higher risk of ED utilization with its associated costs. The findings indicate that individuals with Alzheimer’s who present to the ED have more associated comorbidities and mortality following their ED visit. Individuals living in nursing homes or receiving specialized care did not have increased ED use when compared to matched controls. Moving forward, the role of the ED physician may be to ensure coordination of care to minimize ED utilization and costs.