In-Hospital Delirium Increases Risk for Functional Disability, Cognitive Impairment

Findings seen among older adults in the six months following a COVID-19 hospitalization

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, July 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) — In-hospital delirium among older adults hospitalized for COVID-19 is associated with increased functional disability and cognitive impairment postdischarge, according to a study published online July 2 in JAMA Network Open.

Ramya Kaushik, M.D., from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues assessed whether in-hospital delirium is associated with functional disability and cognitive impairment six months postdischarge among older adults hospitalized with COVID-19. The analysis included 311 older adults (aged 60 years and older) hospitalized with COVID-19 between June 18, 2020, and June 30, 2021, at five hospitals in a major U.S. tertiary care system.

The researchers found that in the functional disability sample (311 participants), 15.8 percent experienced in-hospital delirium, while in the cognition sample (271 participants), 11.4 percent experienced in-hospital delirium. Associations were seen for in-hospital delirium and both increased functional disability (rate ratio, 1.32) and increased cognitive impairment (odds ratio, 2.48) six months postdischarge.

“Older survivors of a COVID-19 hospitalization who experience in-hospital delirium should be assessed for disability and cognitive impairment during postdischarge follow-up,” the authors write. “Future studies should evaluate whether delirium prevention strategies and cognitive screening within the hospital, as well as rehabilitation following discharge, can effectively reduce the deleterious sequelae of in-hospital delirium among older persons hospitalized for COVID-19.”