Background: Delirium is one of the
most common medical emergencies and is associated with poor outcomes including: mortality, prolonged length of stay and poor functional outcome. The
more severe delirium is the worst the clinical outcomes of medical illness. Despite the obvious, not much has been documented on delirium severity and its associated factors among medical inpatients in low income countries including Nigeria. Objectives: This study was conducted to examine the severity of delirium among medical inpatients admitted through the Accident and Emergency unit of Jos University Teaching Hospital as well as to assess its associated
Sociodemographic and Clinical characteristics. Method: This was a
cross-sectional study that employed a consecutive sampling technique to select 290 eligible subjects from medical inpatients that presented to Accident and Emergency unit of Jos University Teaching Hospital. On admission, patients were assessed for delirium using Confusion Assessment Method and severity of delirium was evaluated using Delirium Rating Scale-Revised-98. Results: Of the 105 delirious medical inpatients, 48 (45.7%) had severe delirium, 41 (39.1%) developed less severe delirium while 16 (15.2) presented with no severe delirium. Sociodemographic characteristics found to be significantly
associated with less to more severe delirium include male gender (P = 0.001), nonprofessionals (P = 0.003), income range of N20,000 - N49,000 (P < 0.001) and being married (P = 0.022). However, prior cognitive impairment was found to be significantly associated with severe delirium (P < 0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that delirium is often associated with higher severity in Accident and
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