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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Causes and prognosis of delirium in elderly patients admitted to a district general hospital | | Author(s) | James George, Sheena Bleasdale, Steven J Singleton |
| Journal title | Age and Ageing, vol 26, no 6, November 1997 |
| Pages | pp 423-427 |
| Keywords | Confusion ; Death ; In-patients ; Scotland. |
| Annotation | Delirium (acute confusional state) is a common condition affecting many older people, and is also associated with a high early mortality, however, little is known about its longer term prognosis. In this case control study, the causes and prognosis of delirium in older patients admitted to a district general hospital in Carlisle were examined. The study identified 171 patients with delirium. The commonest cause of delirium was found to be infection, particularly chest and urine infection. Multiple potential causes were identified in one quarter of the patients. Vision and hearing impairment were found to be more common in patients with delirium. After one year, patients with delirium were found to have increased mortality, an increased institutionalisation rate and an increased readmission rate. The study concluded that delirium has a poor long-term prognosis and that it may be a marker for functional deterioration and decline in older people. |
| Accession Number | CPA-980122402 A |
| Classmark | EDC: CW: LF7: 9A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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