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Neuropsychiatric and cognitive profile of patients with DSM-IV delirium referred to an old age psychiatry consultation-liaison service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2011

Faiza Jabbar ,
Maeve Leonard ,
Karena Meehan ,
Margaret O'Connor ,
Con Cronin ,
Paul Reynolds ,
Anna Maria Meaney  and
David Meagher
Faiza Jabbar
Affiliation:
Psychiatry for Later Life Service, University College Hospital, Galway, Ireland
Maeve Leonard
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Midwestern Regional Hospital, Limerick, and University of Limerick Medical School, Limerick, Ireland
Karena Meehan
Affiliation:
Psychiatry for Later Life Service, University College Hospital, Galway, Ireland
Margaret O'Connor
Affiliation:
Department of Elderly Medicine, Midwestern Regional Hospital, Limerick, Ireland
Con Cronin
Affiliation:
St John's Hospital, Limerick, Ireland
Paul Reynolds
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Midwestern Regional Hospital, Limerick, and University of Limerick Medical School, Limerick, Ireland
Anna Maria Meaney
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Midwestern Regional Hospital, Limerick, and University of Limerick Medical School, Limerick, Ireland
David Meagher*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Midwestern Regional Hospital, Limerick, and University of Limerick Medical School, Limerick, Ireland
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Professor David Meagher, University of Limerick Medical School, Limerick, Ireland. Phone: +353-61-202700. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Background: The phenomenology of delirium is understudied, including how the symptom profile varies across populations. The aim of this study was to explore phenomenology occurring in patients with delirium referred to an old age psychiatry consultation-liaison setting and compare with delirium occurring in palliative care patients.

Methods: Consecutive cases of DSM-IV delirium were assessed with the Delirium Rating scale Revised-98 (DRS-R98) and Cognitive Test for Delirium (CTD).

Results: Eighty patients (mean age 79.3±7.7 years; mean DRS-R98 total score 21.7±4.9 and total CTD score 10.2±6.3) were included. Forty patients (50%) with comorbid dementia were older, had a longer duration of symptoms at referral, and more severe delirium due to greater cognitive impairments. Inattention (100%) was the most prominent cognitive disturbance, while sleep-wake cycle disturbance (98%), altered motor activity (97%), and thought process abnormality (96%) were the most frequent DRS-R98 non-cognitive features. Inattention was associated with severity of other cognitive disturbances on both the DRS-R98 and CTD, but not with DRS-R98 non-cognitive items. The phenomenological profile was similar to palliative care but with more severe delirium due to greater cognitive and non-cognitive disturbance.

Conclusion: Delirium is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome with generalized cognitive impairment and disproportionate inattention. Sleep-wake cycle and motor-activity disturbances are also common. Comorbid dementia results in a similar phenomenological pattern but with greater cognitive impairment and later referral.

Keywords

deliriumphenomenologydementia
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 23 , Issue 7 , September 2011 , pp. 1167 - 1174
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2011

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