ArticleBMC medicine2019
Delirium is prevalent in older hospital inpatients and associated with adverse outcomes: results of a prospective multi-centre study on World Delirium Awareness Day.
Article in BMC medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The association between frailty and hospital-related adverse events in older hospitalised patients: a systematic literature review.European geriatric medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Development and validation of an international preoperative risk assessment model for postoperative delirium.Age and ageing · 2023Pooled it
- How do predisposing factors differ between delirium motor subtypes? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2022Pooled it
- Frailty and delirium in hospitalized older adults: A systematic review with meta-analysis.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2022Pooled it
- Diagnostic accuracy of the 4AT for delirium detection in older adults: systematic review and meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2021Pooled it
- Investigating how electroencephalogram measures associate with delirium: A systematic review.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2021Pooled it
- The consistent burden in published estimates of delirium occurrence in medical inpatients over four decades: a systematic review and meta-analysis study.Age and ageing · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of Family-Partnered Delirium Prevention, Detection, and Management in Critically Ill Adults: The Activating Family Caregivers in the Identification Prevention and Management of Delirium (ACTIVATE) Study.Critical care explorations · 2025Trial
- The effect of music interventions compared to standard-of-care on the prevention of delirium in neurosurgical patients: an analysis of costs and cost-effectiveness based on the MUSYC-trial.Acta neurochirurgica · 2025Trial
- Development and Usability Testing of a Mobile App-Based Clinical Decision Support System for Delirium: Randomized Crossover Trial.JMIR aging · 2024Trial
- CSF neurofilament light chain concentration in patients with delirium following hip fracture: a multicenter prospective study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Observational
- Video-based Detection of Delirium in Hospitalized Adults.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Video-based detection of Delirium in hospitalized adults.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Nurses' Compliance with Delirium Assessment Protocol in a Tertiary Hospital: A Retrospective Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Validation of the Greek Version of the 4 'A's Test for Delirium Screening in Elderly Patients with Hip Fracture.Clinics and practice · 2026Article
- ChatGPT-4o in delirium recognition: a pilot study.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2026Article
- Delirium after surgery: a retrospective study of predictors, complications, and screening patterns in the national surgical quality improvement program.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Prevalence of cognitive morbidity including delirium in 51,202 emergency hospital admissions across 29 medical and surgical specialties in ORCHARD-EPR: a cross-sectional study.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Regional Cerebral Oxygen Saturation and Risk of Delirium: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDelirium is a common severe neuropsychiatric condition secondary to physical illness, which predominantly affects older adults in hospital. Prior to this study, the UK point prevalence of delirium was unknown. We set out to ascertain the point prevalence of delirium across UK hospitals and how this relates to adverse outcomes.
methodsWe conducted a prospective observational study across 45 UK acute care hospitals. Older adults aged 65 years and older were screened and assessed for evidence of delirium on World Delirium Awareness Day (14th March 2018). We included patients admitted within the previous 48 h, excluding critical care admissions.
resultsThe point prevalence of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) delirium diagnosis was 14.7% (222/1507). Delirium presence was associated with higher Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS): CFS 4-6 (frail) (OR 4.80, CI 2.63-8.74), 7-9 (very frail) (OR 9.33, CI 4.79-18.17), compared to 1-3 (fit). However, higher CFS was associated with reduced delirium recognition (7-9 compared to 1-3; OR 0.16, CI 0.04-0.77). In multivariable analyses, delirium was associated with increased length of stay (+ 3.45 days, CI 1.75-5.07) and increased mortality (OR 2.43, CI 1.44-4.09) at 1 month. Screening for delirium was associated with an increased chance of recognition (OR 5.47, CI 2.67-11.21).
conclusionsDelirium is prevalent in older adults in UK hospitals but remains under-recognised. Frailty is strongly associated with the development of delirium, but delirium is less likely to be recognised in frail patients. The presence of delirium is associated with increased mortality and length of stay at one month. A national programme to increase screening has the potential to improve recognition.
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