Introduction:

Delirium is a neuropsychiatric syndrome of multifactorial etiology that occurs frequently in hospitalized older adults. There are no studies describing the incidence of delirium in Santander and its associated epidemiological factors.

Objective:

To assess the incidence of delirium, clinical characteristics according to type, mortality after 30 days of hospitalization and complications associated with delirium, in adult patients over 65 years hospitalized in a department in Colombian northeast.

Materials and Methods:

We included all hospitalized patients ≥ 65 years. We excluded patients with delirium on admission, those hospitalized in intensive care unit, with orotracheal intubation, Glasgow < 8/15, or with factors limiting the ability to assess delirium.

Results:

492 hospitalized patients with an average age of 75 years were analyzed. The cumulative incidence of delirium was 9.3%. Of these patients there was a higher percentage of women (63%) and adults ≥ 85 years (31.5%). The greatest association was related to longer hospital stay (11.0 vs 7.1 days, p <0.05), functional impairment evaluated by Barthel scale, and increased risk of mortality (HR:2.9 IC95%: 2.1-3.4). Male sex, normal cognitive status, Barthel index ≥ 60 and normal nutritional status were protective factors.

Conclusions:

The incidence of delirium in the population of eastern Colombia was similar to the incidence worldwide. Delirium was associated with longer hospital stay, functional decline, and mortality. Applying cognitive, functional, and nutritional screening scales, it would be possible to identify patients with greater vulnerability to delirium development. MÉD.UIS.2021;34(1):9-17.

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