Variation of the occurrence of agitated delirium during the day in palliative care

Article

GONCALVES, Ferraz | ALMEIDA, Ana | ANTUNES, Luís | TEIXEIRA, Sara | PEREIRA, Sara | EDRA, Natércia

Objectives: Delirium is often associated with alterations to the sleep-wake cycle and it is stated that agitation is more common at evening and night that on other periods. However, in the medical literature, there are any research data supporting this aspect. The objective of this study is to verify if there is any period where agitation is more frequent in patients with delirium. Methods: The records of the time of episodes of agitation were assessed to check if there are different frequencies during the day. Results: This study was carried out between 18 June 2007 and 31 December 2013. The protocol was used 584 times in 135 patients. One hundred two (76%) were males and the mean age was 65.75 years (SD ± 12.09). The most frequent diagnosis was head and neck cancer, 37 (27%). There was an uneven distribution of the episodes of agitation during the day. They started to rise from 4 PM, picked at the 2-hour period 22:00–24:00 hours and decreased until 6 AM. Those differences are statistically significant (P<0 .001). Significance of Results: This study shows that agitation is more frequent at evening and night in patients with delirium.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09699260.2018.1480102?needAccess=true

Voir la revue «PROGRESS IN PALLIATIVE CARE, 26»

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• Sujet/Public
• Outil
• Outil d'anticipation
• Gestion