Authors: MarcJacques Dubois Nicolas Bergeron Marc Dumont Sandra Dial Yoanna Skrobik
Publish Date: 2001/07/17
Volume: 27, Issue: 8, Pages: 1297-1304
Abstract
Objectives 1 To establish risk factors for the development of delirium in an intensive care unit ICU and 2 to determine the effect of delirium on morbidity mortality and length of stay Design Prospective study Setting Sixteenbed medical/surgical ICU in a university hospital Patients Two hundred and sixteen consecutive patients admitted to the ICU for more than 24 h during 5 months were included in the study Interventions Medical history selected laboratory values drugs received and factors that may influence patient psychological and emotional wellbeing were noted All patients were screened with a delirium scale A psychiatrist confirmed the diagnosis of delirium Major complications such as selfextubation and removal of catheters as well as mortality and length of stay were recorded Results Forty patients 19 developed delirium of these onethird were not agitated In the multivariate analysis hypertension smoking history abnormal bilirubin level epidural use and morphine were statistically significantly associated with delirium Traditional factors associated with the development of delirium on general ward patients were not significant in our study Morbidity selfextubation and removal of catheters but not mortality was clearly increased Conclusion Predictive risk factors for the development of delirium in studies outside the ICU may not be applicable to critically ill patients Delirium is associated with increased morbidity Awareness of patients at risk may lead to better recognition and earlier intervention
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