Incidence of delirium in the critical care unit and risk factors in the Central Region, Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To determine the incidence and risk factors of delirium in the cardiac care unit (CCU) and intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: This multicenter prospective observational study was conducted between July 2019 and November 2019 in the central region of Saudi Arabia. All patients admitted to the critical care units were enrolled, and their demographic data and risk factors of delirium were reported.

Results: A total of 165 patients were included: 76 (46.1%) admitted to the CCU and 89 (53.9%) admitted to the ICU. The mean age was 55.1±18 years, and 45 (27.3%) were women. We found that 24/165 (14.5%) patients developed delirium during admission. Importantly, variables significantly associated with delirium group were female gender: (24.5% versus 10.8%, p=0.028), malnutrition (29.2% versus 5%, p<0.001), the presence of urinary catheter (75% versus 30.5%, p=0.001), septicemia (50% versus 14.9%, p<0.001), intubation (41.7% versus 10.6%, p=0.001), low hemoglobin (10.79±2.91 versus 12.05±2.77, p=048), and prolonged prothrombin time (PT) (15.87±5.17 versus 13.60±3.28, p=0.011).

Conclusion: The incidence of delirium was 14.5% among patients admitted to critical care units in the central region of Saudi Arabia. Septicemia, prolonged PT, malnutrition, and urinary catheter are significant predictors of delirium.