Risk factors associated with delirium after cardiovascular surgery and development of a check sheet to screen for postoperative delirium

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the risk factors of delirium after cardiovascular surgery and to formulate and verify a check sheet for assessing the pre-operative risk factors of delirium. Methods: The risk factors for postoperative delirium, including emergency operation, age, length of stay in ICU, and hydroxyzine single use were assessed in 267 patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery. In the ICU, delirium was assessed using the confusion assessment method for the ICU (CAM-ICU) and intensive care delirium screening checklist (ICDSC). In the general ward, the delirium screening tool (DST) was used. A logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors of postoperative delirium. Results: The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC-AUCs) and the cut-off values of the regression equation for predicting the probability of delirium were 0.822 (0.75-0.90, P<0.001) and 0.114, respectively. Among the two patients who later developed delirium, one was assessed to be at a high-risk for developing delirium based on a positive check sheet. Conclusion: Our results suggested that the preoperative delirium check sheet can help predict the occurrence of delirium after cardiovascular surgery.