Hyperactive Delirium May Be Common Among Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients

Critically ill COVID-19 patients who develop delirium are likely to become hyperactive and agitated, suggests a smallstudy published today in theJournal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. In general, patients with delirium tend to be hypoactive, or show quiet confusion.The study by Juan D. Vel ásquez-Tirado, M.D., of Clinica Universitaria Bolivariana in Medellín and colleagues involved 20 adult inpatients with COVID-19 who had delirium diagnosed by the Liaison Psychiatry Service at a hospital in Medellín, Colombia. Eighteen of these patients were in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the start of the study. A liaison psychiatrist evaluated the COVID-19 patients usingDSM-5, the Delirium Diagnostic Tool-Provisional (DDT-Pro), Delirium Etiology Checklist (DEC), and Delirium Motor Subtype Scale-4 (DMSS-4).At baseline, all the patients had multiple problems known to contribute to delirium, with the most common being organ failure (present in all 20 patients), systemic infection (present in all 20 patients), and metabolic disturbances (present in 19 patients). Half of the patients had DDT-Pro scores of 2 or less (which indicates significant cognitive and circadian impairment), including six patients with a score of 0. Patients with more severe COVID-19 were more likely to have lower DDT-Pro scores. In contrast, preexisting medical problems did not correlate with DDT-Pro scores.According to DMSS-4 assessments, 15 of the 20 patients presented with only hyperactive deliri...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: COVID-19 delirium hyperactive delirium Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences organ failure systemic infection Source Type: research