Centre for Policy on Ageing



Acute confusional state in elderly orthopaedic patients — factors of importance for detection in nursing care
Author(s)	Edith M Andersson, Lars Gustafson, Ingalill R Hallberg
Journal title	International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 16, no 1, January 2001
Pages	pp 7-17
Keywords	Confusion ; In-patients ; Orthopaedics ; Sweden.
Annotation	Assessment, observations and interviews with 505 patients admitted to a Swedish orthopaedic clinic revealed that 51 patients developed acute confusional state (ACS) during their hospital stay. Patients admitted for hip fracture had a higher incidence of ACS (20.2%) than those admitted for elective surgery for coxarthros or gonarthros (3.8%). The ACS lasted from 1 to 9 days; 42 patients had one episode, 8 had two, and 1 had three episodes of confusion during their stay on the ward. Acuteness of the situation seems an important risk indication for ACS in older people. Awareness of factors associated with the development of ACS makes it possible to more systematically identify those at risk, for instance by systematic assessment in the first interview with the patient on admission to hospital. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-010227208 A
Classmark	EDC: LF7: LKB: 76P
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.