The Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)’s Geriatric and Long-Term Care Department is leading a campaign to inform and educate healthcare professionals as well as patients and families about delirium.
The campaign to mark “World Delirium Awareness Month” is aimed at raising public awareness as well as educate healthcare staff in all acute service areas across the HMC on ways to identify, evaluate and manage cases of delirium.
Delirium is a clinical state of acute confusion that is usually triggered by a medical illness, leading to rapid changes in brain function that occurs with underlying medical conditions.
While more common among hospital patients, delirium can also occur in community settings, for instance, home-bound patients, especially those with dementia.
Studies suggest that on average, one in five adult patients will develop delirium while in hospital, with older adults being most at risk, but 43-76% of delirium cases are unrecognized, with potentially devastating effects on the patient.
Dr Hanadi al-Hamad, national lead for healthy ageing and chairperson of the HMC’s Department of Geriatrics and Long-Term Care, said that delirium is a common condition that is too often undetected or misdiagnosed.
“Delirium and dementia have some similarities but they are not the same,” she said. “However, the conditions are epidemiologically and clinically interconnected and each condition is a major risk factor for the other.
“Healthcare staff and carers need to understand the differences, and know what steps to take in managing the delirium to reduce the risk of developing or advancing dementia.”
Patients with delirium have 12 times greater chance of developing dementia than patients without delirium, while patients with dementia are four times more likely to develop delirium, and this risk increases with increased severity of dementia.
While dementia is not curable, delirium is traditionally considered a reversible condition.
Dr al-Hamad, who is also the medical director of Rumailah Hospital and Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, emphasised the importance of addressing this condition in healthcare systems.
“International research has shown that delirium affects 18-35% patients in the acute hospital setting, and one in three elderly hospital patients are likely to be affected by delirium,” she explained. “People who have delirium during their hospitalisation will have increased lengths of stay, often due to experiencing more hospital-acquired complications, such as falls and pressure sores.”
Dr Anand Kartha, senior consultant medicine at the HMC and associate professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, explained: “Failure to recognise and investigate delirium may have life-threatening consequences.”
“Especially for elderly patients in hospital, delirium can be triggered by a combination of factors including infection, dehydration, poor nutrition, and certain medications such as pain killers,” he said. “High-risk populations in hospitals who may develop delirium include people who have had surgery, those in intensive care units, those with cancer or patients at the end of life.”
Refa Bakhit, assistant executive director of Nursing at Rumailah Hospital, said: “Regular screening of patients in critical care settings for the presence of delirium is crucial to its successful management and nurses play a key role in the identification of delirium. That is why we are extremely pleased to collaborate on professional education programmes for nurses who are on the front line to help them detect, manage, and even prevent intensive care unit (ICU) delirium.”
The campaign to mark “World Delirium Awareness Month” is aimed at raising public awareness as well as educate healthcare staff in all acute service areas across the HMC on ways to identify, evaluate and manage cases of delirium.
 Dr Anand Kartha |
While more common among hospital patients, delirium can also occur in community settings, for instance, home-bound patients, especially those with dementia.
Studies suggest that on average, one in five adult patients will develop delirium while in hospital, with older adults being most at risk, but 43-76% of delirium cases are unrecognized, with potentially devastating effects on the patient.
Dr Hanadi al-Hamad, national lead for healthy ageing and chairperson of the HMC’s Department of Geriatrics and Long-Term Care, said that delirium is a common condition that is too often undetected or misdiagnosed.
“Delirium and dementia have some similarities but they are not the same,” she said. “However, the conditions are epidemiologically and clinically interconnected and each condition is a major risk factor for the other.
“Healthcare staff and carers need to understand the differences, and know what steps to take in managing the delirium to reduce the risk of developing or advancing dementia.”
Patients with delirium have 12 times greater chance of developing dementia than patients without delirium, while patients with dementia are four times more likely to develop delirium, and this risk increases with increased severity of dementia.
While dementia is not curable, delirium is traditionally considered a reversible condition.
Dr al-Hamad, who is also the medical director of Rumailah Hospital and Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, emphasised the importance of addressing this condition in healthcare systems.
“International research has shown that delirium affects 18-35% patients in the acute hospital setting, and one in three elderly hospital patients are likely to be affected by delirium,” she explained. “People who have delirium during their hospitalisation will have increased lengths of stay, often due to experiencing more hospital-acquired complications, such as falls and pressure sores.”
Dr Anand Kartha, senior consultant medicine at the HMC and associate professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, explained: “Failure to recognise and investigate delirium may have life-threatening consequences.”
“Especially for elderly patients in hospital, delirium can be triggered by a combination of factors including infection, dehydration, poor nutrition, and certain medications such as pain killers,” he said. “High-risk populations in hospitals who may develop delirium include people who have had surgery, those in intensive care units, those with cancer or patients at the end of life.”
Refa Bakhit, assistant executive director of Nursing at Rumailah Hospital, said: “Regular screening of patients in critical care settings for the presence of delirium is crucial to its successful management and nurses play a key role in the identification of delirium. That is why we are extremely pleased to collaborate on professional education programmes for nurses who are on the front line to help them detect, manage, and even prevent intensive care unit (ICU) delirium.”
