Survey of attitudes and behaviors of healthcare professionals on delirium in ICU.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the medical community's awareness and practice regarding delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU).


METHODS
One hundred and ten predesigned questionnaires were distributed to ICU practitioners in the affiliated hospitals of Zhejiang University.


RESULTS
A total of 105 valid questionnaires were collected. Totally, 55.3% of the clinicians considered that delirium was common in the ICU. Delirium was believed to be a significant or serious problem by 70.5% of respondents, and under-diagnosis was acknowledged by 56.2% of the respondents. The incidence of ICU delirium is even more under-estimated by the pediatric doctors compared with their counterparts in adult ICU (P less than 0.05). Primary disease of the brain (agreed by 82.1% of the respondents) was believed to be the most common risk factor for delirium. None of the ICU professionals screened delirium or used a specific tool for delirium assessment routinely. The vast majority (92.4%) of respondents had little knowledge on the diagnosis and the standard treatment of delirium.


CONCLUSIONS
Although delirium is considered as a serious problem by a majority of the surveyed ICU professionals, it is still under-recognized in routine critical care practice. Data from this survey show a disconnection between the perceived significance of delirium and the current practices of monitoring and treatment in ICU in China.
Gong
Zhi-ping
ZP
First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Liu
Xi-wang
XW
Zhuang
Yi-yu
YY
Chen
Xiang-ping
XP
Xie
Guo-hao
GH
Cheng
Bao-li
BL
Jin
Yue
Y
Fang
Xiang-ming
XM
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003693:Delirium / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires