Prevalence of delirium in gastroenterology/hepatology units: A cross-sectional study

Prevalence rates of delirium amount to 22.0% within acute-care settings. In contrast, 30–40% of patients with liver cirrhosis may develop hepatic encephalopathy, a condition that has been classified as a syndrome of delirium, based on recent pathophysiology findings. However, the prevalence of delirium in gastroenterology and hepatology units is unknown. The aims of the study were (i) to identify delirium prevalence rates in inpatients of gastroenterology/hepatology wards, (ii) to analyze the delirium motor subtype, and (iii) to assess associations between delirium and patient characteristics. In this monocentric, cross-sectional, epidemiological study, point prevalence was assessed at six time points in three gastroenterology/hepatology units within a German university hospital. Delirium was assessed using the 4 ‘As’ Test (4AT) and delirium subtype by the delirium motor subtype scale. Patient characteristics were collected from patient charts. The sample consisted of 188 patients, aged 18 to 98 years (mean age 64, n=110 male). Of them, 18.1% of patients showed delirium symptoms (61.8% hypoactive, 29.4% mixed, and 8.8% hyperactive). For the participants aged ≥65 years (n=96), prevalence of delirium amounted to 26.0%. Significant associations were observed between delirium and the following characteristics: age (p=0.001), length of hospital stay until assessment (p=0.043), cerebrovascular disease (p=0.002), dementia (p=0.010), diabetes mellitus with chronic complications (p=0.012), and gender (nonsignificant trend, p=0.050), while no association was detected between moderate or severe liver disease and delirium (p=0.414). In conclusion, overall prevalence rates of delirium were rather low and did not increase in patients with liver disease.