TIME FOR CHANGE - REDUCE DEMENTIA BURDEN GLOBALLY. A recent retrospective cohort study (650.590 hospital patients aged ≥65 years) published in the BMJ that once again highlights the importance of screening and treating delirium.
Delirium and incident dementia in hospital patients in New South Wales, Australia: retrospective cohort study
BMJ 2024; 384 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-077634 (Published 27 March 2024)
Cite this as: BMJ 2024;384:e077634
Data showed a strong association between delirium and incident dementia in older adults without dementia at baseline. “Patients with delirium had 39% higher risk of death (hazard ratio 1.39, 95% confidence interval 1.37 to 1.41) and three times higher risk of incident dementia (subdistribution hazard ratio 3.00, 95% confidence interval 2.91 to 3.10) than patients without delirium.”
“Delirium is a factor that could triple a person’s risk of dementia. Therefore, delirium prevention and treatment are opportunities to reduce dementia burden globally.”