Evaluation of Patients with Delirium in the Emergency Department

Objective: Delirium is a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by acute onset and a fluctuating course of globally altered mental status. It has been reported that the frequency of delirium among patients hospitalized with any disorder ranges from 2 to 30%. However, in the literature, few studies have evaluated the frequency of delirium in hospitalized patients, including those older than 65 years. According to our knowledge, this is the first study on adult patients in all age groups in an emergency department. We aimed to classify delirium according to its etiological causes and to compare the age groups for frequency and these causes. Material and Methods: Forty-three patients were included in the study; they had been diagnosed with delirium according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV in an emergency department from December 2002 to December 2003. The patients were divided into two groups (group I: age