A multi-center, prospective cohort study was conducted. All patients who had been admitted to
surgical intensive care units (SICU) between April 2011 and January 2012 were enrolled.
Delirium was diagnosed using the
Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklists (ICDSC). The univariable and multivariable risk regression analyses were analyzed and presented as risk ratio (RR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI).
RESULTS: The overall incidence of
delirium was 3.6 % (162 of 4450, 95 % CI 3.09-4.19 %) whilst the incidences of
delirium for patients being admitted ≤48 and >48 h were 0.7 % (21 of 2967, 95 % CI 0.41-1.01 %) and 8.3 % (141 of 1685, 95 % CI 7.04-9.68 %), respectively. The incidence of
delirium on each study site was significantly different (range between 0 and 13.9 %, P < 0.001). Delirious patients had a significantly higher age (65.3 ± 15.6 versus 61.8 ± 17.3 years, P = 0.013), higher Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (APACHE II score) (16 (12-23) versus 10 (7-15), P < 0.001), and higher sequential organ failure assessment score (5 (2-8) versus 2 (1-5), P < 0.001). The median duration of
delirium was 3 (1-5) days. Delirious patients had significantly longer duration of ICU stay (8 (5-19) versus 2 (1-4), P < 0.001) and higher ICU mortality rate (23.5 versus 8.1 %, P < 0.001).
Sepsis (RR = 3.70, 95 % CI 2.33-5.90, P < 0.001), exposure to
sedative medications (RR = 3.54, 95 % CI 2.13-5.87, P < 0.001), higher APACHE II score (RR = 2.79, 95 % CI 1.98-3.95, P < 0.001), thoracic surgery (RR = 1.74, 95 % CI 1.09-2.78, P = 0.021), and emergency surgery (RR = 1.70, 95 % CI 1.09-2.65, P = 0.019) were independent risk factors of
delirium in SICU.
CONCLUSIONS: