Delirium as a marker of vulnerability in the elderly

Submitted: 2 August 2015
Accepted: 12 October 2015
Published: 24 November 2015
Abstract Views: 3300
PDF: 1277
HTML: 1410
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Delirium is the clinical expression of an acute cerebral dysfunction caused by various noxious insults. Its prevalence is very high in the elderly, especially in the hospital setting, and in geriatric patients it can be the clinical manifestation of almost every acute disease. Delirium is associated to a number of adverse clinical and functional outcomes, to a higher risk of cognitive decline, institutionalization, and short- and long-term mortality. It is thus necessary to increase the attention on this issue: in fact, it is clearly demonstrated that delirium can be prevented in a large proportion of cases. Delirium is not only a marker of patient vulnerability and clinical instability, but also an index of the quality of care and the efficiency of its organization. By systematically assessing the presence of delirium during the whole length of hospital stay, physicians may closely monitor the patient’s clinical status. The aims of this review are to review the current clinical practice in delirium, focusing particularly on elderly individuals. The topics covered include epidemiology and outcomes, causes, clinical features and diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Finally, implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

How to Cite

Bellelli, G., Mazzola, P., & Morandi, A. (2015). Delirium as a marker of vulnerability in the elderly. Geriatric Care, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/gc.2015.5472

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.