Prevalence, Determinants, and Prognostic Significance of Delirium in Patients with Acute Heart Failure

Background: Delirium is a serious syndrome in critically ill patients. However, the prognostic impact of delirium and its determinants in acute heart failure (AHF) patients have not been fully elucidated.

Methods: We examined 611 AHF patients who were admitted to our institution. Delirium was diagnosed based on the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC).

Results: Delirium developed in 139 patients (23%) during hospitalization. Patients with delirium had higher incidence of non-cardiovascular death (p=0.046) and worsening heart failure (p<0.001) during hospitalization. Among patients who survived at discharge, the incidence of all-cause death, cardiovascular death and non-cardiovascular death after discharge were significantly higher in patients with delirium than those without (log-rank; p<0.001, p=0.001, p<0.001, respectively) during a median follow-up period of 335days. In multivariable model, the development of delirium was an independent determinant of worsening heart failure during hospitalization (OR: 2.44, 95% CI: 1.27-4.63) and all-cause death after discharge (HR: 2.38, 95% CI: 1.30-4.35). Furthermore, multivariate analysis indicated that history of cerebrovascular disease (OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.36-3.35), age (OR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.15-1.80), log BNP (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.09-1.79), serum albumin (OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.76-0.93) and blood glucose levels (OR: 1.03, 95% CI: 1.00-1.06) were independent determinants of delirium.

Conclusion: In patients with AHF, the development of delirium was associated with poor clinical outcomes, suggesting the importance of early screening and careful monitoring of delirium in such patients.