Abstract W P226: Delirium After Intracerebral Hemorrhage Is Common and Independently Predicts Reduced Domain-Specific Quality Of Life

Abstract

Background: Delirium sypmptoms are common after ischemic stroke and in the medical and surgical ICU, and predictive of increased length of stay and worse outcomes. There are few data in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). We tested the hypothesis that delirium symptoms were associated with increased length of stay, worse functional outcomes, and worse domain-specific quality of life (QOL) at follow-up. Methods: We prospectively identified 114 patients with ICH. Delirium symptoms were assessed by trained nursing staff twice daily with the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU), a validated method. Arousal was measured with the Richmond Agitation Sedation Score. Functional outcomes were measured with the modified Rankin Scale at 1 and 3 months, with poor outcome defined at <=3 (moderately severe disability or worse). QOL was assessed at 1, 3 and 12 months with Neuro-QOL, instruments developed by NIH for neurologic disease and validated for proxy report. Results: Of 114 patients, 31(27%) patients had delirium symptoms, 67 (59%) were never delirious, and the remainder (14%) had persistent coma. Only 2 (2%) were ever very agitated (both of whom were delirious), so most delirium symptoms were hypoactive. Any benzodiazepine (BZD) use, age, pneumonia, seizure, hematoma volume and NIH Stroke Scale were not associated with delirium symptoms in patients who could be assessed. Delirium symptoms were detected mean 5.9 days after ICH symptom onset and were associated with longer ICU length of stay (mean 3.5 days longer in ever delirious patients, 95%CI 1.5 - 8.3, P=0.004) after correction for age, admit NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and any BZD exposure. Delirium symptoms were associated with increased odds of poor outcome at 28 days (OR 8.7, 95%CI 1.4 - 52.5, P=0.018) after correction for admission NIHSS and age. After correction for NIHSS, age, any BZD use and time of follow-up, delirium symptoms were associated with worse QOL in the domains of applied cognition - executive function (0.6 SD, 95%CI 0.2 - 1.1 SD, P=0.045) and fatigue (0.7 SD, 95%CI 0.17-1.3 SD, P=0.01). Conclusions: Delirium symptoms (encephalopathy) were not predictable on admission, common after ICH, and independently predictive of longer length of stay, worse functional outcomes and reduced QOL.