Rest-activity patterns associated with delirium in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage

Delirium is an acute cognitive disturbance frequently characterized by abnormal psychomotor activity and sleep-wake cycle disruption. However, the degree to which delirium affects activity patterns in the acute period after stroke is unclear. We aimed to examine these patterns in a cohort of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

We enrolled 40 patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) who had daily DSM-5-based delirium assessments. Continuous activity measurements were captured using bilateral wrist actigraphs throughout each patient's admission. Activity data were collected in 1-min intervals, with "rest" defined as periods with zero activity. We compared differences in activity based on delirium status across multiple time intervals using multivariable models adjusted for age, ICH severity, and mechanical ventilation.

There were 279 days of actigraphy monitoring, of which 199 (71%) were rated as days with delirium. In multivariable analyses, delirium was associated with 98.4 (95% CI 10.4-186.4) fewer daily minutes of rest, including 5.3% (95% CI -0.1-10.1%) fewer minutes during daytime periods (06:00-21:59) and 10.2% (95% CI 1.9-18.4%) fewer minutes during nocturnal periods (22:00-5:59), with higher levels of activity across multiple individual hourly intervals (18:00-21:00, 23:00-03:00, and 04:00-08:00). These differences were even more pronounced in hyperactive or mixed delirium, although even hypoactive delirium was associated with more activity during multiple time periods.

Post-stroke delirium is associated with less rest and higher overall levels of activity, especially during nocturnal periods.