SynthesisEuropean geriatric medicine2026
Prevalence of delirium among older nursing home residents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in European geriatric medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Delirium superimposed on dementia in nursing homes: prevalence, incidence, and prognosis - protocol of a prospective multicenter cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Prevalence of delirium in German nursing homes: A cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeDelirium is a common geriatric syndrome that presents as an acute change in mental status and is associated with adverse outcomes. The primary aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine its prevalence in the nursing home population.
methodsMEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Web of Science were searched up to July 11, 2025. Eligible studies reported cross-sectional prevalence data on delirium in the nursing home population, identified using formal diagnostic criteria (DSM-III or ICD-10 onwards) or validated detection tools. Two reviewers independently screened records, extracted data, and assessed quality. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to pool the overall prevalence. The reporting adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
resultsA total of nine studies were included, and prevalence data on delirium from eight distinct study populations were analyzed. The prevalence of delirium ranged from 1.0% to 57.9%. The pooled prevalence, encompassing 4291 nursing home residents aged ≥ 65 years, was 18.8% (95% CI: 7.4%-40.2%; I2 = 96.9%; Wald-Chi2-Test = 227.66, p < 0.001). Dementia was present in up to 86.2% of residents. Four studies reported factors associated with the prevalence of delirium, with cognitive impairment most frequently identified as a factor in all four studies.
conclusionDelirium was identified as a common health issue in most of the included studies, although prevalence rates were heterogeneous. Future research should prioritize the development of effective detection and prevention strategies, the validation of tools tailored to the nursing home setting, and the conduct of robust, internationally comparable prevalence assessments.
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