Factors Related to Delirium Occurrence among the Patients in the Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to delirium occurrence in the ICU patients.

Method: The sample were 99 patients in the ICU in a university affiliated hospital located in Kyunggi-do. Data were collected from September 1st to October 31st, 2006. The instrument, CAM-ICU developed by Ely et al.(2001) was utilized. Data were analyzed by SPSS 13.0 for descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square and multiple regression.

Results:

The delirium in the ICU patients was occurred in 22 (22.2%) out of 99 patients. There were significant differences in factors related to delirium occurrence, such as past medical history, long hospitalization, long ICU hospitalization, restraints, intubation or tracheostomy experience, ventilator experience, high pain score, and high anxiety score. Duration of ICU hospitalization, level of anxiety and past medical history were the significant predictors of the delirium occurrence(ß=44.5%).

Conclusion: This study results recommend that specific nursing strategies needed to be developed to increase the detection of delirium in the ICU patients. The ICU nurses should recognize the incidence of delirium and prevent it in ICU settings.