Tabet, Naji and Howard, R (2009) Non-pharmacological interventions in the prevention of delirium. Age and Ageing, 38 (4). pp. 374-9. ISSN 0002-0729

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Abstract

Delirium is a serious and common disorder especially among older people on inpatients units. Numerous modifiable or manageable delirium risk factors have been identified. As a result, there is now a widespread notion that many cases of delirium can be prevented. In this review, published data evaluating non-pharmacological interventions for delirium prevention were assessed in relation to their efficacy. Currently, most published studies are based on direct targeting of risk factors and/or introduction of educational programmes to increase staff knowledge and awareness. However, there continues to be a dearth of randomised controlled trials evaluating non-pharmacological interventions, partly because of the inherent difficulties associated with delirium research in general and with the evaluation of non-pharmacological interventions in particular. Instead, many of the available studies have been observational or non-randomised in nature. Nevertheless, the majority of these support a role for non-pharmacological interventions in delirium prevention. While more research is certainly needed, the majority of available data are based on best practice protocols, guidelines and interventions. Hence, a consistent and concerted effort is now justified to introduce non-pharmacological prevention strategies across units to help tackle the increasingly prevalent delirium among older people.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Neuroscience
Subjects:	R Medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0581 Specialties of internal medicine > RC0952 Geriatrics
Depositing User:	Tracey O'Gorman
Date Deposited:	09 Nov 2012 16:06
Last Modified:	25 Jan 2018 10:20
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/42003

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