Delirium cost-effectiveness of therapy

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Pratik Bahekar, MBBS [2]; Vishal Khurana, M.B.B.S., M.D. [3]

Delirium worsen prognosis of an illness and results in more health care costs. Focus should be on prevention and early identification of delirium.

• In the USA, the cost of a patient admission with delirium is estimated at between $16k and $64k, suggesting the national burden of delirium may range from $38 bn to $150 bn per year (2008 estimate).^[1]
• In the UK, the cost is estimated as £13k per admission.^[2]
• Delirium results in the following:
• Increased health care costs
• Higher incidence of death^[3]
• Rise in the duration of the hospital stay by an average of eight days
• Worse physical and cognitive recovery in 6 – 12 months with increased time in institutional care
• One-third patient do not achieve complete recovery from delirium, and they tend to have a worse prognosis.
• Patients may have recollections of the event that they find unpleasant and disturbing.^[4]

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