Prevalence of delirium in geriatric hospitalized general medical population

The present study was carried out on the hospitalised geriatric general medical patients. The assessment of the patients was carried out within 24 hours of admission and on every fourth day thereafter using Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE), Confusion Assessment Method (CAM), Delirium Symptom Interview (DSI) and ICD-10-Diagnostic Criteria of Research for delirium. An overall rate of delirium of 27% was found in the 100 patients who constituted the sample. 19% was the rate of 'prevalent' delirium and 8% was the rate of 'incident' delirium. It is observed that the CAM is a useful screening method with high sensitivity for diagnosis of delirium at the bedside.