SynthesisEuropean geriatric medicine2024
A pandemic of delirium: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of occurrence of delirium in older adults with COVID-19.
Synthesis in European geriatric medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 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.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Five-decade prevalence of delirium in pneumonia, risk factors and associated mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025Pooled it
- Trends in Proportion of Delirium Among Older Emergency Department Patients in South Korea, 2017-2022.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Examining the risk of delirium in patients hospitalized with COVID-19: Insights from the homeless population.PloS one · 2025Article
- The Multidimensional Prognostic Index predicts incident delirium among hospitalized older patients with COVID-19: a multicenter prospective European study.European geriatric medicine · 2024Article
- Predictors of 2-year mortality in geriatric patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Türkiye: a retrospective cohort study.Biomarkers in medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeDelirium has been recognized as an atypical presenting feature of COVID-19 in older adults and is independently associated with mortality. We aimed to perform an updated systematic review of the literature and proportional meta-analysis to assess prevalence and incidence of delirium in older adults with COVID-19, addressing differences according to sex, frailty status, and settings.
methodsWe searched databases for English-language articles on prevalence and incidence of delirium in older adults with COVID-19, published between March 2020 and January 2023.
resultsOf the 1171 articles identified, 66 met selection criteria and were included in the meta-analysis (n = 35,035 participants, age-range 66-90 years old, 46.6% females). We observed similar pooled prevalence (20.6% [95% Confidence Interval (CI) 17.8-23.8%]) and incidence (21.3% [95% CI 14.7-30%]) of delirium. Pooled occurrence (both prevalence and incidence) of delirium was similar according to sex (females 21.3% [95% CI 16-27.5%] vs. males 23.8%% [95% CI 18.2-30.4%], p-value = 0.55) and study setting (nursing homes 22.5% [95% CI 14.2-33.6%] vs. hospital 20.3% [95% CI 17-24%], p = 0.68), but it was significantly higher in frail versus non-frail patients (37% [95% CI 26.6-48.8%] vs. 12.5% [95% CI 7.8-19.6%], p-value < 0.01). Delirium definitions and assessment tools largely varied across studies.
conclusionThis review delineates delirium as a common feature of COVID-19, particularly in frail older adults, and supports its formal inclusion among COVID-19 symptoms. The considerable heterogeneity in delirium assessment highlights the need for an operational strategy to standardize definitions and tools utilization in the management of frail older adults.
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Registered trials
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