According to a study published online July 2 in JAMA Network Open, hospital-acquired delirium in older adults hospitalized with COVID-19 is associated with increased functional and cognitive impairment after discharge.
Ramya Kaushik, MD, PhD, of the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues evaluated whether in-hospital delirium is associated with functional and cognitive impairment 6 months after discharge in older adults hospitalized with COVID-19. The analysis included 311 older adults (aged ≥60 years) hospitalized with COVID-19 between June 18, 2020, and June 30, 2021, at five hospitals in a large U.S. tertiary care system.
The researchers found that 15.8% of the functionally impaired sample (311 participants) and 11.4% of the cognitively impaired sample (271 participants) experienced in-hospital delirium. In-hospital delirium was associated with increased functional impairment (rate ratio, 1.32) and cognitive impairment (odds ratio, 2.48) 6 months after discharge.
“Older survivors of hospitalized COVID-19 who experience hospital-acquired delirium should be evaluated for disability and cognitive impairment during post-discharge follow-up,” the authors write.
“Future studies should evaluate whether in-hospital delirium prevention strategies and cognitive screening, as well as post-discharge rehabilitation, can effectively reduce the harmful sequelae of hospital-acquired delirium in older adults hospitalized with COVID-19.”
Further information: Ramya Kaushik et al., “Hospital Delirium and Disability and Cognitive Impairment After COVID-19 Hospitalization,” JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.19640
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