TABLE 3.
Delirium and Cognitive Impairment
| Study | Study Design (Length of Follow-up) | Population or Exposure | Sample Size | Findings/Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girard 201061 | Prospective (1 yr) | Critical care, delirium | 77 | - 71% of patients had cognitive impairment at 1 yr |
| - Delirium duration was independent risk factor for persisting decline | ||||
| MacLullich 200918 | Literature Review (3 mos to 5 yrs) | Surgery, delirium | 34-674 | - Nine studies confirming association between delirium and worsening cognitive impairment |
| Jones 200627 | Prospective (2 mos) | Critical care, without delirium | 30 | - Nondelirious patients showed evidence of impaired memory (31%) and problem solving (50%) at 2 months |
| Jackson 200460 | Literature Review (6 mos to 3 yrs) | Geripsych patients, general medical patients, surgical patients | 34-682 | - Nine studies supporting association between delirium and subsequent cognitive impairment |
| - Higher incidence of dementia in patients with a history of delirium | ||||
| Gruber-Baldini 200371,a | Prospective (1 yr) | Hip fracture, delirium | 674 | - Cognitive impairment first detected in hospital persisted in over 40% of individuals at 1 year follow-up |
| Lundstrom, 200372 | Prospective (5 yrs) | Hip fracture, delirium | 78 | - Patients with delirium were 3.5 times more likely to develop dementia over 5 years |
| Jackson 200326 | Prospective (6 mos) | Critical care, delirium | 34 | - 32% of patients cognitively impaired at 6 months |
| - Cognitively impaired were more likely to be depressed | ||||
| - Delirium duration was not associated with cognitive decline | ||||
| Cole 200380 | Prospective (1 yr) | Medical inpatients, “ subsyndromal delirium” | 164 | - Patients with subsyndromal delirium had decreased functional and cognitive status than those without any symptoms of delirium |
| Katz 200170,b | Prospective (1 yr) | Hospitalization for any acute illness, nursing home patients, delirium | 102 | - Delirium and baseline cognitive impairment were associated with cognitive decline |
| - Hospitalization was not independently associated with cognitive decline |
Notes: All patients were hospitalized.
a
Included in Jackson et al. 2004. bIncluded in MacLullich et al. 2009.59