Risk Factors for Delirium in Patients with Acute Heart Failure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Geriatrics
• Critical Care Medicine

Background:

• Delirium is an acute, life-threatening condition impacting attention, thinking, and consciousness.
• Hospitalized patients with acute heart failure (AHF) frequently experience delirium.
• Early identification of delirium risk factors in AHF patients is crucial for timely intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a meta-analysis identifying risk factors for delirium in patients hospitalized with AHF (AHF-D).
• To synthesize evidence from original studies to establish a comprehensive list of AHF-D risk factors.

Main Methods:

• Systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, Ichushi, and Cochrane Library databases.
• Inclusion of 6 eligible studies comprising 3867 AHF patients, with 796 experiencing delirium.
• Extraction of data including study design, delirium assessment, and statistical measures (ORs, SMD).

Main Results:

• Identified 14 significant risk factors for delirium in AHF patients.
• Key risk factors include older age, low BMI, mechanical ventilation, comorbidities (stroke, dementia, depression), specific medications (antipsychotics, benzodiazepines), and abnormal lab values (elevated HR, BNP, BUN, creatinine; low albumin, sodium).

Conclusions:

• The study successfully identified numerous risk factors associated with delirium in AHF.
• These findings provide valuable insights for clinicians to proactively identify and manage patients at high risk of developing delirium.