Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28864877›Full record

ReviewDrugs2017

Clinical Assessment and Management of Delirium in the Palliative Care Setting.

Shirley Harvey Bush, Sallyanne Tierney, Peter Gerard Lawlor

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Drugs, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05481294 (The Effectivity of Transpersonal Supportive Coaching Intervention on Serotonin Level and Quality of Life in People Living With HIV/AIDS), which is not on this map. Cited by 39 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
9.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05481294 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

The Effectivity of Transpersonal Supportive Coaching Intervention on Serotonin Level and Quality of Life in People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)

TypeinterventionalSponsorMuh. Yusuf TahirRan2021 to 2023Enrolled80ConditionsHIVArmsTranspersonal Supportive Coaching, Standard Support
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

39 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 150 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Nonpharmacological interventions for preventing delirium in adult patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
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  5. Drug therapy for delirium in terminally ill adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020
    Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Association among rescue neuroleptic use, agitation, and perceived comfort: secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial on agitated delirium.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021
    Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Continuous sedation in adolescent and young adult cancer patients under home-based end-of-life care.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Observational
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  15. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Shirley Harvey BushDepartment of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. sbush@bruyere.org.
Sallyanne TierneyBruyère Continuing Care, 43 Bruyère Street, Ottawa, ON, K1N 5C8, Canada.
Peter Gerard LawlorDepartment of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
University of Ottawa · CABruyère · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Delirium is a neurocognitive syndrome arising from acute global brain dysfunction, and is prevalent in up to 42% of patients admitted to palliative care inpatient units. The symptoms of delirium and its associated communicative impediment invariably generate high levels of patient and family distress. Furthermore, delirium is associated with significant patient morbidity and increased mortality in many patient populations, especially palliative care where refractory delirium is common in the dying phase. As the clinical diagnosis of delirium is frequently missed by the healthcare team, the case for regular screening is arguably very compelling. Depending on its precipitating factors, a delirium episode is often reversible, especially in the earlier stages of a life-threatening illness. Until recently, antipsychotics have played a pivotal role in delirium management, but this role now requires critical re-evaluation in light of recent research that failed to demonstrate their efficacy in mild- to moderate-severity delirium occurring in palliative care patients. Non-pharmacological strategies for the management of delirium play a fundamental role and should be optimized through the collective efforts of the whole interprofessional team. Refractory agitated delirium in the last days or weeks of life may require the use of pharmacological sedation to ameliorate the distress of patients, which is invariably juxtaposed with increasing distress of family members. Further evaluation of multicomponent strategies for delirium prevention and treatment in the palliative care patient population is urgently required.

Indexed as

Palliative CareAntipsychotic AgentsBrain NeoplasmsDehydrationDeliriumHumansAntipsychotic Agents

Identifiers

PMID28864877
PMCPMC5613058
OpenAlexW2751007471

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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 OpenQuestion graph.