Predicting Delirium in Older Patients Hospitalized for Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), the leading infectious cause of hospitalization in older adults, often represents a life-changing event with long-term disabling sequelae. 1 Restrepo M.I. Faverio P. Anzueto A. Long-term prognosis in community-acquired pneumonia. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2013; 26: 151-158 Crossref PubMed Scopus (94) Google Scholar Delirium is frequent among older inpatients with CAP. 2 Pieralli F. Vannucchi V. Mancini A. et al. Delirium is a predictor of in-hospital mortality in elderly patients with community acquired pneumonia. Intern Emerg Med. 2014; 9: 195-200 Crossref PubMed Scopus (33) Google Scholar Several mechanisms may explain this relationship (ie, respiratory failure, inflammation, and medications). No study has systematically assessed what the factors are for predicting in-hospital delirium in this frail population. Stratifying delirium risk is important to implement tailored interventions to reduce its burden of disability.