Association between delirium superimposed on dementia and mortality in hospitalized older adults

journals.plos.org April 7, 2017

In a prospective cohort study, Thiago Junqueira Avelino-Silva and colleagues examine the association of delirium superimposed on dementia on hospital mortality and 12-month mortality in hospitalized older adults. This was a prospective cohort study completed in the geriatric ward of a university hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. We included 1,409 hospitalizations of acutely ill patients aged 60 y and over from January 2009 to June 2015.

Our results confirm that overlap between delirium and dementia is common. Dementia represents an important risk factor for delirium, and delirium has been increasingly linked with long-term cognitive decline. However, evidence on how the combined effects of these conditions influence clinical outcomes is conflicting.