Delirium and Adverse Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19

Little is known about the association between acute mental changes and adverse outcomes in hospitalized adults with COVID-19.

To investigate the occurrence of delirium in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and explore its association with adverse outcomes.

Longitudinal observational study.

Tertiary university hospital dedicated to the care of severe cases of COVID-19 in São Paulo, Brazil.

A total of 707 patients, aged 50 years or older, consecutively admitted to the hospital between March and May 2020.

We completed detailed reviews of electronic medical records to collect our data. We identified delirium occurrence using the Chart-Based Delirium Identification Instrument (CHART-DEL). Trained physicians with a background in geriatric medicine completed all CHART-DEL assessments. We complemented our baseline clinical information using telephone interviews with participants or their proxy. Our outcomes of interest were in-hospital death, length of stay, admission to intensive care, and ventilator utilization. We adjusted all multivariable analyses for age, sex, clinical history, vital signs, and relevant laboratory biomarkers (lymphocyte count, C-reactive protein, glomerular filtration rate, D-dimer, and albumin).

Overall, we identified delirium in 234 participants (33%). On admission, 86 (12%) were delirious. We observed 273 deaths (39%) in our sample, and in-hospital mortality reached 55% in patients who experienced delirium. Delirium was associated with in-hospital death, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.75 (95% confidence interval = 1.15-2.66); the association held both in middle-aged and older adults. Delirium was also associated with increased length of stay, admission to intensive care, and ventilator utilization.

Delirium was independently associated with in-hospital death in adults aged 50 years and older with COVID-19. Despite the difficulties for patient care during the pandemic, clinicians should routinely monitor delirium when assessing severity and prognosis of COVID-19 patients.