Delirium among elderly persons admitted to a psychiatric hospital: clinical course during the acute stage and one-year follow-up.
Seventy elderly patients meeting the DSM-III criteria for delirium were examined during the acute stage and followed up to one year. The mean age of the patients was 75 years (range 60-88), their delirium lasted on average 20 days (range 3-81) and the psychiatric hospitalization on average 30 days (range 8-365). The most common etiologies for delirium were stroke, infections and metabolic disorders. For 57 cases (81%) a predisposing structural brain disease was found. During the index admission, the cognitive dysfunction associated with delirium ameliorated significantly (the mean +/- SD Mini-Mental State Examination score 9.7 +/- 6.6 at admission and 13.9 +/- 7.2 at discharge; P less than 0.001), but during the one-year follow-up progression of the basic central nervous system disease was seen together with declining cognition and deterioration of functions of daily living.
Koponen
H
H
Department of Neurology, University Central Hospital of Kuopio, Finland.
Stenbäck
U
U
Mattila
E
E
Soininen
H
H
Reinikainen
K
K
Riekkinen
P J
PJ
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000523:psychology; D002423:Cause of Death; D003693:Delirium / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D015161:Dementia, Multi-Infarct / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital