Delirium in the Era of COVID-19

Abstract

Background: Delirium has been associated with poor outcomes in hospitalized older adults. Rates of delirium have increased in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Purpose: To explore the prevalence of delirium in older adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19 as well as correlations with age, gender, length of stay (LOS), occurrence of an intensive care unit admission or transfer, and in-hospital mortality in 2 hospitals in the southeast United States. Methods: A retrospective study of 1502 patients admitted between 2020 and 2021 was completed. Results: Older adult patients hospitalized with delirium and COVID-19 demonstrated significantly prolonged LOS (14.1 days vs 7.1 days, P < .0001) and higher rates of in-hospital mortality (33.5% vs 12.8%, P < .0001). Conclusions: Findings of this study add to the growing literature on delirium in hospitalized patients and support the need for future initiatives to create protocols for monitoring and nursing care management of delirium to improve care delivery.