41 Prevalence of delirium among older patients attending a Frailty service in an Emergency Department

Abstract

Abstract Background Delirium is a common clinical syndrome in older patients attending the emergency department and its incidence increases with patient age, disease severity and baseline cognitive impairment. However delirium is frequently unrecognised in emergency departments. The 4AT is a simple and short delirium detection tool designed for easy and effective clinical use. Early proactive recognition of delirium in the ED may improve outcomes such as length of stay and discharge to patients own home. Methods We undertook a retrospective study of 92 patients who attended the Frailty service in the ED between 01/01/2023 and 31/01/2023. We screened for delirium using the 4AT within 12 hours of presentation to the ED and screened for frailty using the CFS with additional data collected to define age, sex, presenting complaint, length of stay and readmission rates. Results The 4AT was completed for 92/94 patients. 21/94 scored positive for delirium indicating a delirium prevalence rate of 22% among our Frailty service cohort. The average age of the patients was 84 years and 57% were female. Clinical Frailty Scale ranged from CFS 4–7 reflective of service parameters. The primary presenting reasons were fall (38% of patients) and infection (LRTI or UTI) for (38% of patients). The average length of stay was 8 days and the readmission rate was 12%. Baseline cognitive impairment was present in 71% of cases. 53% of patients were discharged to their own homes. Conclusion Delirium prevalence in the ED among frail older persons is 22%. The 4AT is a useful tool to quickly detect delirium in the ED. Delirium prevalence is greater in patients with baseline cognitive impairment.