Clinical Correlates of Subtype and Severity in Patients with Delirium

Taehyeon An; Youngsun Ra; Changwoo Han; Hyun-Soo Kim; Kye-Seong Lee; Hwallip Bae

doi:10.4306/jknpa.2015.54.4.489

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An, Ra, Han, Kim, Lee, and Bae: Clinical Correlates of Subtype and Severity in Patients with Delirium

Original Article

Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association 2015; 54(4): 489-494.

Published online: 30 November 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4306/jknpa.2015.54.4.489

Clinical Correlates of Subtype and Severity in Patients with Delirium

Taehyeon An, MD¹, Youngsun Ra, MA¹, Changwoo Han, MD, PhD², Hyun-Soo Kim, MD¹, Kye-Seong Lee, MD¹, Hwallip Bae, MD, PhD¹

¹Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Seonam University, Myongji Hospital, Goyang, Korea.

²Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Ansan Hospital, Ansan, Korea.

Address for correspondence: Hwallip Bae, MD, PhD. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Seonam University, Myongji Hospital, 55 Hwasu-ro 14beon-gil, Deogyang-gu, Goyang 10475, Korea. Tel +82-31-810-6230, Fax +82-31-810-5109, baehwallip@gmail.com

Received 10 June 2015 Revised 8 July 2015 Accepted 10 July 2015

Abstract

Objectives

Delirium is commonly seen in clinical settings, and it can substantially influence the prognosis of patients. In this study, we investigated delirium with respect to its severity, classification and characteristics on each subtype.

Methods

Severity of delirium was examined in delirium patients, who were referred to the department of psychiatry in a general hospital for multidisciplinary treatment. After classification based on subtypes, factors influencing these aspects of delirium were examined.

Results

Among the 193 consultation-liaison patients referred to the department of psychiatry in a general hospital, 61 patients (31.6%) were diagnosed with delirium. Compared to patients in the non-delirium group, patients in the delirium group were older, had a shorter education period, and medical history of surgery. Among the delirium patients, the hyperactive subtype was found to be the most common (57.4%) and patients with the mixed subtype showed the highest severity score for delirium symptoms. In addition, the patient with the hypoactive subtype had a higher frequency of medical history of depression compared to those with the other subtypes.

Conclusion

People with symptoms of hypoactive delirium can be misdiagnosed due to recurrence of depression, therefore, careful examination is required, particularly in patients with a history of depression.

Keywords: Delirium, Subtype, Hyperactive, Hypoactive, Mixed, Consultation-liaison

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Socio-demographic characteristics of the delirium patients and non-delirium patients

^* : p<0.05. SD : Standard deviation

Table 2

Clinical characteristics of delirium motor type

^* : p<0.05. K-DRS-98 : Korean Version of Delirium Rating Scale-Revised-98, MDAS : Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale, SD : Standard deviation

Notes

^{Conflicts of Interest} The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

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