ArticleBMJ open2021
How do delirium motor subtypes differ in phenomenology and contributory aetiology? a cross-sectional, multisite study of liaison psychiatry and palliative care patients.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metabolome Profiling of Yokukansan in Preventing Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Cancer Patients: A Reverse Translational Study.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2025Trial
- Prevalence of delirium in German nursing homes: A cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- The Neuropsychiatric Disturbances of Delirium: A Review of Syndromes and Their Treatment.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026Review
- End-of-life dreams and visions in a patient with delirium: A Brazilian case report and narrative review.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Review
- Checking the Validity and Reliability of the Delirium-O-Meter Questionnaire in the Persian Language.Iranian journal of psychiatry · 2024Article
- Does the Etiology, Phenomenology and Motor Subtype of Delirium Differ When It Occurs in Patients With An Underlying Dementia?: A Multi-Site, International Study.Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology · 2024Article
- Neurophysiological patterns reflecting vulnerability to delirium subtypes: a resting-state EEG and event-related potential study.Brain communications · 2024Article
- Clinical Features of Delirium among Patients in the Intensive Care Unit According to Motor Subtype Classification: A Retrospective Longitudinal Study.Yonsei medical journal · 2023Article
- Data-driven categorization of postoperative delirium symptoms using unsupervised machine learning.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
27 authors at 9 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo investigate whether delirium motor subtypes differ in terms of phenomenology and contributory aetiology.
designCross-sectional study.
settingInternational study incorporating data from Ireland and India across palliative care, old age liaison psychiatry and general adult liaison psychiatry settings.
participants1757 patients diagnosed with delirium using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth edition (DSM IV). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Hyperactive, mixed and hypoactive delirium subtypes were identified using the abbreviated version of the Delirium Motor Subtype Scale. Phenomenology was assessed using the Delirium Rating Scale Revised. Contributory aetiologies were assessed using the Delirium Aetiology Checklist (DEC), with a score >2 indicating that the aetiology was likely or definitely contributory.
resultsHypoactive delirium was associated with dementia, cerebrovascular and systemic infection aetiologies (p<0.001) and had a lower overall burden of delirium symptoms than the other motor subtypes. Hyperactive delirium was associated with younger age, drug withdrawal and the DEC category other systemic aetiologies (p<0.001). Mixed delirium showed the greatest symptom burden and was more often associated with drug intoxication and metabolic disturbance (p<0.001). All three delirium motor subtypes had similar levels of impairment in attention and visuospatial functioning but differed significantly when compared with no subtype (p<0.001).
conclusionsThis study indicates a pattern of aetiology and symptomatology of delirium motor subtypes across a large international sample that had previously been lacking. It serves to improve our understanding of this complex condition and has implications in terms of early detection and management of delirium.
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