BACKGROUND Delirium is one of the most distressing and difficult to manage problems in advanced illness. Family caregivers have a unique view of the progression of delirium. OBJECTIVE This study examined precursors to delirium from the perspective of family caregivers. DESIGN This study utilized a two-stage concept mapping design that began with semistructured interviews with caregivers of ...

BACKGROUND Delirium superimposed on dementia (DSD) is highly prevalent and associated with high mortality among hospitalized elderly patients, yet little is known about the effect of DSD on midterm mortality. The purpose of this study was to assess 12-month survival in patients with DSD and matched groups with dementia alone, delirium alone, or neither delirium nor dementia. METHODS Among 127...

BACKGROUND Delirium is the most often encountered psychiatric diagnosis in the general hospital, with an incidence of up to 82% in the intensive care unit setting and with significant detrimental effects on patients' morbidity and mortality. Antipsychotics are often considered the first-line pharmacological treatment of delirium, but their use may be limited by lack of efficacy, existing contra...

BACKGROUND The majority of critically ill patients experience distress during their stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), resulting from systemic illness, multiple interventions and environmental factors. Providing humane care should address concomitant treatment of pain, agitation and delirium. The use of sedation and approaches to ICU delirium should be monitored according to structured guid...

BACKGROUND Nursing home residents are frail, have multiple medical comorbidities, and are at high risk for delirium. Most of the existing evidence base on delirium is derived from studies in the acute in-patient population. We examine the association between clinical characteristics and medication use with the incidence of delirium during the nursing home stay. METHODS This is a retrospective...

Background: Delirium or acute confusion is a temporary mental disorder that occurs frequently among hospitalized elderly patients, but also in younger patients a delirium can develop. Patients who undergo cardiac surgery have an increased risk of developing delirium that is associated with many negative consequences. Therefore, prevention of delirium is essential. Despite the high incidence of ...

Delirium (acute confusional state) is a common condition in older people, affecting up to 30% of all older patients admitted to hospital. Patients who develop delirium have high mortality, institutionalisation and complication rates, and have longer lengths of stay than non-delirious patients. Delirium is often not recognised by clinicians, and is often poorly managed. Delirium may be prevented...

An increasing number of elderly patients are presenting to the emergency department. Numerous studies have observed that emergency physicians often fail to identify and diagnose delirium in the elderly. These studies also suggest that even when emergency physicians recognized delirium, they still may not have fully appreciated the import of the diagnosis. Delirium is not a normal manifestation ...

The present study was carried out on the hospitalized geriatric general medical patients with the aim to identify the possible risk factors associated with delirium in the elderly. The assessment of the patients was carried out using Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE), Delirium Symptom Interview (DSI), Delirium Rating Scale (DRS) and ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research for delirium Detai...

Delirium is an acute state marked by disturbances in cognition, attention, memory, perception, and sleep-wake cycle which is common in elderly. Others have shown an association between delirium and increased mortality, length of hospitalization, cost, and discharge to extended stay facilities. Until recently it was not known that after an episode of delirium in elderly, there is a 63% probabili...