Clinical Profile of Acute Confusion in the Long-Term Care Setting

Pamela Z. Cacchione, Kennith Culp, Joan Laing and Toni Tripp-Reimer

Clinical Nursing Research, 2003, vol. 12, issue 2, 145-158

Abstract: Aspects of acute confusion (AC) including risk factors, behavior patterns, and outcomes are not well documented in long-term care (LTC) residents. The purpose of this prospective study was to describe the clinical profile of AC in LTC including risk factors, behavior patterns, etiologies, and 3-month outcomes. Seventy-four elderly LTC residents were assessed for AC, depression, and global cognitive impairment. Risk factors associated with AC included hearing deficits, depression, pulmonary disorders, and abnormal serum sodium or potassium levels. Behavior patterns of acutely confused residents included hyperactive ( n = 9, 31%), hypoactive ( n = 8, 28%), and mixed ( n = 7, 24%). In the majority of the AC cases, the etiology was multifactorial: Infections and dehydration were the most common causes. Residents with AC had very poor 3-month outcomes. Thirty-four percent ( n = 10) of the residents with AC died within 3 months of the evaluation. This study highlights the complexity and serious nature of AC in this frail population.

Date: 2003
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1054773803012002003 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:clnure:v:12:y:2003:i:2:p:145-158

DOI: 10.1177/1054773803012002003

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Clinical Nursing Research
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().