ArticleJournal of the Intensive Care Society2019
The influence of alcohol abuse on agitation, delirium and sedative requirements of patients admitted to a general intensive care unit.
Article in Journal of the Intensive Care Society, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risk factors for postoperative delirium following total hip or knee arthroplasty: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Patient Agitation in the Intensive Care Unit: A Concept Analysis.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Review
- Effect of high-dose baclofen on post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms five years after hospitalization among critically ill patients with unhealthy alcohol use.Scientific reports · 2026Observational
- A 24-hour landmark machine learning model for predicting new-onset sepsis-associated encephalopathy.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Association between alcohol use disorder and the incidence of delirium in the intensive care unit: a retrospective cohort study using propensity score matching.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Impact of Alcohol Misuse on Requirements for Critical Care Services and Development of Hospital Delirium in Patients With COVID-19 pneumonia.Critical care explorations · 2023Article
- Magnitude and associated factors of delirium among patients attending emergency department at Jimma medical center, Jimma, southwest Ethiopia, 2022.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePatients with alcohol-related disease constitute an increasing proportion of those admitted to intensive care unit. There is currently limited evidence regarding the impact of alcohol use on levels of agitation, delirium and sedative requirements in intensive care unit. This study aimed to determine whether intensive care unit-admitted alcohol-abuse patients have different sedative requirements, agitation and delirium levels compared to patients with no alcohol issues.
methodsThis retrospective analysis of a prospectively acquired database (June 2012-May 2013) included 257 patients. Subjects were stratified into three risk categories: alcohol dependency (n = 69), at risk (n = 60) and low risk (n = 128) according to Fast Alcohol Screening Test scores and World Health Organisation criteria for alcohol-related disease. Data on agitation and delirium were collected using validated retrospective chart-screening methods and sedation data were extracted and then log-transformed to fit the regression model.
resultsIncidence of agitation (p = 0.034) and delirium (p = 0.041) was significantly higher amongst alcohol-dependent patients compared to low-risk patients as was likelihood of adverse events (p = 0.007). In contrast, at-risk patients were at no higher risk of these outcomes compared to the low-risk group. Alcohol-dependent patients experienced suboptimal sedation levels more frequently and received a wider range of sedatives (p = 0.019) but did not receive higher daily doses of any sedatives.
conclusionsOur analysis demonstrates that when admitted to intensive care unit, it is those who abuse alcohol most severely, alcohol-dependent patients, rather than at-risk drinkers who have a significantly increased risk of agitation, delirium and suboptimal sedation. These patients may require closer assessment and monitoring for these outcomes whilst admitted.
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Registered trials
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