Symptoms of Depression and Delirium Assessed Serially in Palliative-Care Inpatients

Delirium occurs in approximately 1 in 5 general hospital admissions and up to 85% of patients with terminal illness, but can be difficult to differentiation from other disorders, such as depression The authors assessed and compared mood states as they relate to onset of delirium. Symptoms of depress...

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Published inPsychosomatics (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 50; no. 5; pp. 506 - 514
Main Authors Leonard, Maeve, Spiller, Juliet, Keen, Jeremy, MacLullich, Alasdair, Kamholtz, Barbara, Meagher, David
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Arlington, VA Elsevier Inc 01.09.2009
American Psychiatric Publishing
Elsevier Limited
Subjects
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Depression
Internal Medicine
Medical sciences
Mood disorders
Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
United Kingdom
Europe
Mood disorder
Delirium
Social environment
Human
Disease
Mental health
Depression
Hospital environment
Terminal stage
Organic mental disorder
Symptomatology
Treatment
Follow up study
Palliative care
Mental confusion
Comparative study
Public health
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Summary:Delirium occurs in approximately 1 in 5 general hospital admissions and up to 85% of patients with terminal illness, but can be difficult to differentiation from other disorders, such as depression The authors assessed and compared mood states as they relate to onset of delirium. Symptoms of depression and delirium were assessed in 100 consecutive palliative-care admissions immediately after admission and 1 week later. Overall, 51% experienced either major depression or delirium. Most patients with syndromal delirium also met criteria for major depressive illness, and 50% of those with depression had delirium or subsyndromal delirium (SSD). Delirium symptoms were less common in patients with major depression than depressive symptoms in patients with delirium or SSD. Delirium should be considered in patients with altered mood states, and screening for depression should initially rule out delirium. Sustained alterations in mood may be more frequent in delirium than previously recognized.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:0033-3182
1545-7206
DOI:10.1016/S0033-3182(09)70844-8