*4.4. Limits of the Study*

This scoping review focused only on the relationship between nursing activities and identification, prevention, and management of cognitive impairment in elderly hospitalized individuals, and the main limitation is the reduced availability of studies in the hospital environment. The majority of published studies recruited patients in the home setting. Hospitalization is usually due to further acute illnesses; therefore, general conditions and eventually chronic diseases associated with acute events worsen. Moreover, in this study, we could not take into consideration the intensity of care, including some invasive treatments such as intravenous or enteral support. Finally, we could not stratify nursing activities considering the cause of cognitive impairment, its worsening, its stage, or the duration of the cognitive impairment.
