title: Delayed treatment of delirium increases mortality rate in intensive care unit patients.
abstract: Delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a serious complication associated with a poor outcome in critically ill patients. In this prospective observational study of the effect of a delay in delirium therapy on mortality rate, 418 ICU patients were regularly assessed using the Delirium Detection Score (DDS). The departmental standard required that if delirium was diagnosed (DDS >7), therapy should be started within 24 h. In total, 204 patients (48.8%) were delirious during their ICU stay. In 184 of the delirious patients (90.2%), therapy was started within 24 h; in 20 patients (9.8%), therapy was delayed. During their ICU stay, patients whose delirium treatment was delayed were more frequently mechanically ventilated, had more nosocomial infections (including pneumonia) and had a higher mortality rate than patients whose treatment was not delayed. Thus, it would appear that a delay in initiating delirium therapy in ICU patients was associated with increased mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heymann
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Radtke
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schiemann
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lütz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: MacGuill
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Wernecke
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spies
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000209:etiology*; D003693:Delirium / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult