Delirium is one of the most serious problems facing hospitalized patients.

It nearly doubles a patient's risk of death and often produces irreversible,

cognitive, and functional impairment.

It's extremely common occurring in approximately one in five inpatients,

with even higher rates among patients in surgery units and intensive care units.

Despite the high prevalence,

more than half of delirium cases go undetected. In this podcast, we will review key points in the diagnosis, workup, and management of this acute, confusional state.

Welcome to the Carlat Psychiatry podcast.

This is a special episode from the Carlat Hospital Psychiatry Report.

I'm Dr. Victoria Hendrick, editor-in-chief of the Carlatte Hospital Psychiatry Report, and a clinical professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine

at UCLA. I'm also the director of inpatient psychiatry at all of you, UCLA Medical Center.

I'm Prob Jockill. I'm the podcast content coordinator at Carlat Publishing and I will be attending

graduate school this year to receive my doctor in psychology.

To effectively identify and treat delirium, we must have a thorough understanding of its clinical

features. Delirium describes an acute change from a patient's baseline mental status and is

marked by inattention, disorientation, and thought disorganization.

Symptoms fluctuate throughout the day and patients may appear lucid for brief periods.

Additionally, their sleep-wake cycles are often disrupted and they may demonstrate a broad range of emotions or even experience hallucinations.

So Dr. Hendrick, what are the different classifications of delirium?

Delirium is categorized into hypoactive, hyperactive, and mixed.

Patients experiencing hypoactive delirium may go undetected,

since they appear withdrawn and may seem to be resting peacefully.

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