Delirium in a consultation liaison psychiatry unit of a general hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Delirium is an organic mental disorder defined as a confusional state, attention deficit and disorganized thinking, with a fluctuanting course and acute development. Underlying causes are numerous, but the most common are multiple medical problems and drug side effects.

Subjects and method: We present a descriptive and transversal study of 62 inpatients with delirium diagnosis (ICD-10 criteria) attended by a Liaison Psychiatric Department in a General Hospital during a year. The data included demographic, somatic and psychiatric variables.

Results: The overall referral rate from the general hospital was 0.2%. No significant differences, were found in sex distribution. The age average was 64.46 years. The majority of patients were referred by Surgery (19.4%) and Medicine (17.7%). The most common medical diagnosis was cancer (25%) and respiratory failure (15.9%). Haloperidol was the most frequent psychiatric treatment. The greatest number of referred patients were included in the serious medical state and the 23.9% of patients with delirium diagnosis deceased.

Conclusion: Data supports the statement that delirium is most often found in hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of cancer and respiratory failure, and that this diagnosis is associated with mortality in a hight proportion. Furthermore, this study suggest an increase in costcontainment since the average stay are increased in comparison with the rest of hospitalized patients.