Thomas H McCoy1, Kamber L Hart2, Roy H Perlis2. 1. Center for Quantitative Health, Division of Clinical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Simches Research Building 6th Floor, 185 Cambridge St, Boston, MA 20114, United States; Avery D. Weisman Psychiatry Consultation Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Warren Building 6th Floor, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, United States. Electronic address: thmccoy@partners.org. 2. Center for Quantitative Health, Division of Clinical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Simches Research Building 6th Floor, 185 Cambridge St, Boston, MA 20114, United States.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To better understand variation in reported rates of delirium, this study characterized delirium occurrence rate by department of service and primary admitting diagnosis. METHOD: Nine consecutive years (2005-2013) of general hospital admissions (N=831,348) were identified across two academic medical centers using electronic health records. The primary admitting diagnosis and the treating clinical department were used to calculate occurrence rates of a previously published delirium definition composed of billing codes and natural language processing of discharge summaries. RESULTS: Delirium rates varied significantly across both admitting diagnosis group (X210=12786, p<0.001) and department of care (X26=12106, p<0.001). In both cases obstetrical admissions showed the lowest incidences of delirium (86/109764; 0.08%) and neurological admissions the greatest (2851/25450; 11.2%). Although the rate of delirium varied across the two hospitals the relative rates within departments (r=0.96, p<0.001) and diagnostic categories (r=0.98, p<0.001) were consistent across the two institutions. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of delirium varies significantly across admitting diagnosis and hospital department. Both admitting diagnosis and department of care are even stronger predictors of risk than age; as such, simple risk stratification may offer avenues for targeted prevention and treatment efforts.
OBJECTIVE: To better understand variation in reported rates of delirium, this study characterized delirium occurrence rate by department of service and primary admitting diagnosis. METHOD: Nine consecutive years (2005-2013) of general hospital admissions (N=831,348) were identified across two academic medical centers using electronic health records. The primary admitting diagnosis and the treating clinical department were used to calculate occurrence rates of a previously published delirium definition composed of billing codes and natural language processing of discharge summaries. RESULTS:Delirium rates varied significantly across both admitting diagnosis group (X210=12786, p<0.001) and department of care (X26=12106, p<0.001). In both cases obstetrical admissions showed the lowest incidences of delirium (86/109764; 0.08%) and neurological admissions the greatest (2851/25450; 11.2%). Although the rate of delirium varied across the two hospitals the relative rates within departments (r=0.96, p<0.001) and diagnostic categories (r=0.98, p<0.001) were consistent across the two institutions. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of delirium varies significantly across admitting diagnosis and hospital department. Both admitting diagnosis and department of care are even stronger predictors of risk than age; as such, simple risk stratification may offer avenues for targeted prevention and treatment efforts.
Authors: Carl M Zipser; Tobias R Spiller; Florian F Hildenbrand; Annina Seiler; Jutta Ernst; Roland von Känel; Sharon K Inouye; Soenke Boettger Journal: J Am Med Dir Assoc Date: 2022-02-13 Impact factor: 7.802