A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Introduction: Patients who develop delirium while hospitalized are increasingly recognized as at risk for the development of long term cognitive impairment. We became interested in the contribution of delirium to the development of post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) when we found that patients at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, compared to patients at the Mayo facilities in Rochester, MN, were 17 times more likely to receive the drug physostigmine (Antilirium®) for the treatment of delirium in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU). However, before we could examine the relationship between delirium and POCD we needed to validate a tool we could use to quickly assess the presence of delirium in patients emerging from anesthesia in the PACU. Hypothesis: The Confusion Assessment Method in the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) can be used in the PACU to identify patients with delirium. Methods: Patients 65 years of age or greater who were going to have a standardized general anesthetic for a surgical procedure were identified on the day of surgery and consent to participate in the study was obtained. The CAM-ICU was used preoperatively to determine study eligibility (patients who scored less than 7 [scale of 1-10], indicating delirium, on the test were not followed further) and postoperatively, one hour after the patient was admitted to the PACU, to assess for delirium. The CAM-ICU was administered after we asked the patient’s nurse whether or not he or she had determined that the patient was delirious. Results: 168 patients, mean age 75 ± 7 (SD) with the majority of participants having urologic or orthopedic procedures were assessed pre- and post-operatively with the CAM-ICU, and post-operatively by a nursing assessment for delirium. The CAM-ICU took little time to administer and was easy for patients to understand and use. The nurse at the bedside identified 5 of 168 patients as delirious (prevalence of 2.98%). The CAM-ICU was positive for delirium in 11 of 168 (6.55%). The CAM-ICU had a sensitivity of 60% (3/5) and a specificity of 95% (155/163). Conclusion: In this investigation, the CAM-ICU was easy to use and had a high specificity for identifying post-operative delirium.

A Quality Improvement project to initiate the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) delirium screening tool at a Skilled Nursing Facility and Rehabilitation Center in East Tennessee -- by S. Joseph Jadav, Doctor of Nursing Practice Candidate at East Tennessee State University. Purpose/Aims: The aim of this project is to implement a delirium screening protocol in a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility which will aid in early detection of signs and symptoms of delirium in older adults. This early detection followed by an early intervention can help reduce costs and decrease mortality rates with better outcomes. Processes: A CAM screening is conducted on each patient (male & female) for delirium for a period of four weeks. Data collection will comprise of the number of patients assessed and the total number of positive and negative delirium cases. It was determined that the proposed activity is not research involving human subjects according to United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regulations by the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). Results: The project is currently in the data collection phase. Limitations: Refusal to participate either by the patient or family in the screening. Conclusions: While nearly 80% of delirium cases in an acute care setting go undetected or undiagnosed, this project to implement a delirium screening protocol in a skilled nursing facility is even more imperative in early detection and early intervention.

The aim: was to describe and compare a group of experts and critical care nurses' agreement in detecting delirium in intubated, ventilator treated patients with sedation / analgesia, before and after an in house training intervention with the instrument Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU). Method: A quasi-experimental study, one group pretest - posttest design. A convenience sample of 17 critical care nurses in a general intensive care unit included. To detect delirium the instrument CAM-ICU was used, 21 paired tests before and 22 after an educational intervention. Main Results: The results showed that after an in house training intervention sensitivity and kappa coefficient improved of the characteristic 1 "acute onset and fluctuating course," an improvement that was significant. In other features, and overall values were signs of numerical improvement and deterioration in sensitivity, specificity and kappa coefficient but no significant change. Conclusion: Implementing a new instrument for detecting delirium in clinical practice requires education and follow-up. A small sample of critical care nurses with varying ability to use the new instrument and the fact that patients' status may change rapidly making it difficult to draw any conclusions from this study. It is clear, however, that education and follow-up is needed when new care routines are introduced, and that further studies are needed to clarify whether the CAM-ICU is a valit and reliable instrument to use in clinical practice. / Syftet var att beskriva och jämföra en expertgrupp och intensivvårdssjuksköterskors överensstämmelse i att detektera delirium hos intuberade, respiratorbehandlade patienter med sedering/analgesi, före och efter en utbildningsintervention med instrumentet Confusion assessment method for the intensive care unit (CAM-ICU). Metod: En kvasiexperimentell studie, en grupps pretest – posttest design. Ett bekvämlighetsurval på en allmän intensivvårdsavdelning där inkluderades 17 intensivvårdssjuksköterskor. För att detektera delirium användes instrumentet CAM-ICU, 21 parmätningarna före och 22 efter en utbildningsintervention. Huvudresultat: Resultatet visade att efter utbildningsinterventionen förbättrades sensitiviteten och kappa koefficienten i kännetecken 1 ”akut insättande eller fluktuerande förlopp”, en förbättring som var signifikant. I övriga kännetecken och totalvärden fanns tecken på numerär förbättring och försämring i sensitivitet, specificitet och kappakoefficient men ingen signifikant förändring. Slutsats: Att implementera ett nytt instrument för att detektera delirium i klinisk verksamhet kräver utbildning och uppföljning. Ett litet sample av intensivvårdssjuksköterskor med varierad förmåga att använda det nya instrumentet samt det faktum att patienters status hastigt kan förändras gör det svårt att dra några slutsatser av denna studie. Klart är dock att utbildning och uppföljning behövs när nya vårdrutiner införs, och att ytterligare studier behövs för att klargöra om CAM-ICU är ett valit och reliabelt instrument att använda i klinisk verksamhet.