Table 1.
Predisposing and precipitating factors for delirium
| Predisposing factors |
|---|
| Age > 70 years |
| Alcohol or drug abuse |
| Hearing impairment |
| Visual impairment |
| History of delirium |
| Cognitive impairment |
| Precipitating factors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Group | Factor | Cut‐off |
| High doses of psychotropic medication | Opioids | >90 mg morphine per day or equivalent |
| Corticosteroids | >15 mg dexamethasone per day or equivalent | |
| Sedatives | >2 mg lorazepam per day or equivalent | |
| Withdrawal | Alcohol | |
| Sedatives | ||
| Other | ||
| Infection | Fever | >38.5°C |
| Sepsis | ||
| Urinary tract infection | ||
| Pulmonary tract infection | ||
| Other infections | ||
| Postoperative state | ||
| Constipation | ||
| Urinary retention | ||
| Intracranial neoplasm | Primary tumor | |
| Metastasis | ||
| Carcinomatous meningitis | ||
| Organ failure | Pulmonary failure | O2 sat < 88% or PO2 < 55 mm Hg |
| Renal insufficiency | Creatinine > 312 mmol/L (3 x ULN) or creatinine > 3 × baseline | |
| Liver failure | Bilirubin > 60 mmol/L (3 × ULN) and/or ASAT > 150 U/L (5 × ULN) and/or ALAT > 200 U/L (5 × ULN) | |
| Cardiac failure | Requiring (prolonged) hospitalization | |
| Metabolic disturbance | Calcium (corrected for albumin level) | <1.75 mmol/L > 3.1 mmol/L |
| Sodium |
<130 mmol/L >155 mmol/L |
|
| Potassium |
<3.0 mmol/L >6.0 mmol/L |
|
| Glucose |
<2.2 mmol/L >13.9 mmol/L |
|
| Albumin | <20 g/L | |