ArticlePloS one2021
Delirium as a predictor of mortality and disability among hospitalized patients in Zambia.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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.
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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluation of long-term consequences among snakebite survivors in rural Kenya including validation of a functional limitations assessment tool.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Advanced non-invasive respiratory support in resource-constrained settings: a narrative review.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Review
- Factors predicting delirium among hospitalized older adults in an urban area, Thailand: A prospective cohort study.Belitung nursing journal · 2025Article
- Performance of risk scores in predicting mortality at 3, 6, and 12 months in patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2024Article
- Diagnostic Accuracy of the Recognizing Acute Delirium as Part of Your Routine (RADAR) Scale for Delirium Assessment in Hospitalized Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Correlation of C-reactive Protein with Delirium in Obstetrics Intensive Care Unit: A Tertiary Center Experience.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2023Article
- Stroke unit and Neurocritical Care Unit for acute neurological diseases in the USL Toscana Centro: a pilot model of Santo Stefano Hospital in Prato.Frontiers in stroke · 2023Article
- Incidence and interaction factors of delirium as an independent risk of mortality in elderly patients in the intensive units: a retrospective analysis from MIMIC-IV database.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2022Article
- Providing Neurocritical Care in Resource-Limited Settings: Challenges and Opportunities.Neurocritical care · 2022Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo study the epidemiology and outcomes of delirium among hospitalized patients in Zambia.
methodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, from October 2017 to April 2018. The primary exposure was delirium duration over the initial 3 days of hospitalization, assessed daily using the Brief Confusion Assessment Method. The primary outcome was 6-month mortality. Secondary outcomes included 6-month disability, evaluated using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0.
findings711 adults were included (median age, 39 years; 461 men; 459 medical, 252 surgical; 323 with HIV). Delirium prevalence was 48.5% (95% CI, 44.8%-52.3%). 6-month mortality was higher for delirious participants (44.6% [39.3%-50.1%]) versus non-delirious participants (20.0% [15.4%-25.2%]; P < .001). After adjusting for covariates, delirium duration independently predicted 6-month mortality and disability with a significant dose-response association between number of days with delirium and odds of worse clinical outcome. Compared to no delirium, presence of 1, 2 or 3 days of delirium resulted in odds ratios for 6-month mortality of 1.43 (95% CI, 0.73-2.80), 2.20 (1.07-4.51), and 3.92 (2.24-6.87), respectively (P < .001). Odds of 6-month disability were 1.20 (0.70-2.05), 1.73 (0.95-3.17), and 2.80 (1.78-4.43), respectively (P < .001).
conclusionAmong hospitalized medical and surgical patients in Zambia, delirium prevalence was high and delirium duration independently predicted mortality and disability at 6 months. This work lays the foundation for prevention, detection, and management of delirium in low-income countries. Long-term follow up of outcomes of critical illness in resource-limited settings appears feasible using the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.