Prevalence Of Delirium And Its Determinants Among The Elderly Patients Admitted In The Secondary Hospital, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

Background: Delirium is a common clinical syndrome frequently seen in hospitalised elderly patients. It is characterised by a sudden onset of inattention and acute cognitive dysfunction and it is highly associated with poor short-term and long-term outcomes. Accurate diagnosis of delirium is the first and most important step in delirium management. Aim: With this objective, a cross-sectional observation study was conducted to assess the prevalence of delirium and its determinants among elderly patients aged 60 years and above admitted in the medical wards of a secondary hospital in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. Methods: The demographic data of the participants was collected using a standard questionnaire. The Nursing Delirium Screening Scale (Nu-DESC) was used to assess the prevalence and severity of delirium. The checklist was based on the pre-disposing factors and the risk factors were used to assess the determinants of delirium. Results: In this study, 29.7% of the study participants had delirium, of which 25.3% had severe delirium and 4.4% had mild delirium. Both men and women are equally affected with delirium but the severity is higher among the men than women. The study finding shows there is a significant association between the clinical data and the selected determinants. Especially it is significantly high among the visually challenged elders and the restrained participants.