Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31184538›Full record

SynthesisPalliative medicine2019

The incidence and prevalence of delirium across palliative care settings: A systematic review.

Christine L Watt, Franco Momoli, Mohammed T Ansari, Lindsey Sikora, Shirley H Bush, Annmarie Hosie, Monisha Kabir, Erin Rosenberg, Salmaan Kanji, Peter G Lawlor

Registry-linked trialAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Palliative medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04833023 (HALO Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 68 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
68citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT04833023 phase3unknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2022, after this paper: background citation

HALO Trial: Haloperidol vs Olanzapine in Hyperactive Delirium in Palliative Care Patients; A Multi-Centre, Randomised-Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorTan Tock Seng HospitalRan2022 to 2024Enrolled72ConditionsHaloperidol, Advanced Cancer, Hyperactive Delirium, OlanzapineArmsHaldol 2mg/ml oral solution, Olanzapine Actavis 5mg orodispersible tablet
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

68 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  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
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  8. Drug therapy for delirium in terminally ill adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020
    Pooled it
  9. Trial
  10. 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
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  14. Prevalence, associated factors, and prognostic impact of delirium in advanced cancer patients in acute palliative care units: a prospective observational study.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Article
  15. Review
  16. Delirium severity trajectories and survival outcome in palliative care patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Caregiver perception of quality of dying of cancer patients is associated with patient-reported quality of life during the last month of life.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Article

8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Christine L Watt1 Division of Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6361-8815
Franco Momoli3 Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Mohammed T Ansari5 School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Lindsey Sikora6 Health Sciences Library, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Shirley H Bush1 Division of Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Annmarie Hosie8 IMPACCT, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-1674-2124
Monisha Kabir7 Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-4456-7661
Erin Rosenberg9 Division of Critical Care, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Salmaan Kanji3 Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Peter G Lawlor1 Division of Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDelirium is a common and distressing neurocognitive condition that frequently affects patients in palliative care settings and is often underdiagnosed.

aimExpanding on a 2013 review, this systematic review examines the incidence and prevalence of delirium across all palliative care settings.

designThis systematic review and meta-analyses were prospectively registered with PROSPERO and included a risk of bias assessment. DATA SOURCES: Five electronic databases were examined for primary research studies published between 1980 and 2018. Studies on adult, non-intensive care and non-postoperative populations, either receiving or eligible to receive palliative care, underwent dual reviewer screening and data extraction. Studies using standardized delirium diagnostic criteria or valid assessment tools were included.

resultsFollowing initial screening of 2596 records, and full-text screening of 153 papers, 42 studies were included. Patient populations diagnosed with predominantly cancer (

conclusionDelirium is prevalent across all palliative care settings, with one-third of patients delirious at the time of admission to inpatient palliative care. Study heterogeneity limits meta-analyses and highlights the future need for rigorous studies.

Indexed as

Hospice and Palliative Care NursingInternationalityAdultDeliriumFemaleHumansMalePrevalenceDeliriumincidencepalliative careprevalencesystematic review

Identifiers

PMID31184538
PMCPMC6691600

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.