Contributed by Zoë Tieges, PhD, Psychology Research Fellow, Geriatric Medicine, Usher Institute, The University of Edinburgh Severity grading of delirium in research and clinical practice may have important value in monitoring clinical course and recovery, in providing prognostic information for risk stratification, in informing treatment, and as endpoints in clinical trials. Fine-grained measures of delirium […]
Category Archives: Delirium Research
New Systematic Review of Instruments for Identification of Delirium
Contributed by Benjamin K. I. Helfand, MSc, MD/PhD (candidate), University of Massachusetts Medical School Delirium affects approximately 3 million older Americans annually, accounting for over $164 billion in healthcare expenditures.1 Delirium disproportionately affects our older population (over age 65) with major public health implications. Development of delirium is associated with prolonged hospitalization, cognitive decline, and […]
Delirium and the Power of Storytelling
Contributed by Heidi Lindroth, PhD RN, T32 Postdoctoral Fellow, Indiana University School of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the terror of delirium to the forefront. Featured articles in the New York Times, the Atlantic, and others, have highlighted the enormous […]
Brain Basis of Post-Stroke Delirium
Contributed by Roberta Esteves Vieira de Castro, MD, PhD, Rio de Janeiro State University, D’Or Institute for Research and Education, Latin American Delirium Special Interest Group, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Delirium is a frequent and malignant aggravation succeeding stroke1,2, with an estimated occurrence ranging from 2 to 66%3,4. It may be a direct consequence of […]
Living in disadvantaged neighborhoods doubles post-op delirium risk for older adults
A new study by Dr. Franchesca Arias and Dr. Sharon Inouye showed older adults who live in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods are two times more likely to experience delirium after surgery than their counterparts from more affluent communities. Read the full press release here.
A researcher becomes a patient experiencing delirium
Contributed by Namrata Patil, M.D., M.P.H., Faculty at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston April 2020 I pulled my blanket tighter as I started sipping on my warm tea. All of a sudden, I saw a couple of big ants crawling on the floor. I pulled my legs up before the ants […]
The Ultra-Brief Confusion Assessment Method (UB-CAM): A New Approach for Rapid Diagnosis of CAM-Defined Delirium
Contributed by Edward R. Marcantonio MD SM, Donna M. Fick, RN PhD, Richard N. Jones ScD, Sharon K Inouye MD MPH The 3D-CAM. As discussed previously on NIDUS, the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM)1 has a 30-year track record during which it has become the standard for delirium identification in both clinical care and research. Moreover, […]
Screening for delirium with the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM)
Contributed by Sharon K. Inouye, M.D., MPH; Richard N. Jones, ScD; Edward R. Marcantonio, M.D., SM Overview The Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) was published in 19901 in a highly cited article in the Annals of Internal Medicine as the first brief, standardized method for identification of delirium at the bedside. It provided a standardized rating […]
Does Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Modify Delirium Severity and Hospital Outcomes?
Contributed by Tammy T. Hshieh, MD MPH, Associate Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Research Faculty at the Aging Brain Center, Hebrew Senior Life NIDUS supports junior researchers by seeding pilot grants. I was fortunate to have received such an award in 2017. At the time, I had recently completed a […]
Preventing Delirium During Covid-19 with Evidence-Based Tools
Contributed by Heidi Lindroth, RN, PhD, T32 Postdoctoral Fellow, Indiana University School of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Covid-19 has substantially changed the environment for patient care due to dramatically increasing patient volumes, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, stringent isolation and infection control activities, and severe restrictions on visitors and contact between […]