Guidelines for Delirium Prevention in At-Risk Adults

Delirium, a common and costly problem among hospitalized elders, has been associated with longer hospital stays, greater relative likelihood of being discharged to a nursing home, and risk for subsequent dementia and death. Now, the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published guidelines on the prevention of delirium in both surgically and medically managed hospitalized adults; members of the guideline development group provided a summary report.

The guidelines are based on a systematic review that ultimately identified eight studies of multicomponent interventions to prevent delirium, although only two studies were of moderate or high quality. The guidelines contain 13 recommendations for interventions t…