title: Progression of delirium in advanced illness: a multivariate model of caregiver and clinician perspectives.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Delirium is one of the most distressing and difficult to manage problems in advanced illness. Family caregivers have a unique view of the progression of delirium.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study examined precursors to delirium from the perspective of family caregivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study utilized a two-stage concept mapping design that began with semistructured interviews with caregivers of patients suffering with delirium. The interview data was sorted and rated by clinicians prior to quantitative data analysis via multidimensional scaling (MDS) and cluster analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 20 family caregivers of patients with a diagnosis of delirium in a hospice inpatient unit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main outcome of the study was a multidimensional model of precursors of delirium that included 99 specific items. The model included ten clusters within three general domains: Cognition, Distress, and Rest/Sleep. An exploratory analysis suggested that Rest and Sleep issues were evident to caregivers much earlier than other kinds of problems (mean=17.56 weeks prior to hospice admission, 95% CI=9.2-25.0 weeks).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides detailed insights from family caregivers about the progression of delirium. The caregiver observations were clustered by multivariate analysis to provide a map of symptom domains. The principal finding of this study is that sleep disturbance was identified by almost all family caregivers much earlier than other more commonly recognized symptoms associated with delirium. The study highlights the importance of sleep fragmentation in the temporal progression of delirium and points toward opportunities for improved measurement, prevention, and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, Cheektowaga, New York 14227, USA. ckerr@palliativecare.org
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: Scott T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Debra L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Luczkiewicz
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: McKenzie
authors.forename: Pei C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hang
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kuszczak
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003221:Confusion; D003693:Delirium / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D019370:Observation; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders; D063189:Symptom Assessment; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*; D000078329:Workforce