Prevention of Delirium in ICU Using Multimodal Interventions

Delirium significantly increases not only the length of the intensive care unit stay and overall mortality, but also the likelihood of persistant cognitive impairment after recovery. However there is no definitive treatment for delirium, thereby it is important to prevent delirium before it occur. Researches also have focused on the prevention of delirium or the reduction of duration of delirium.

Several studies evaluated the effect of non-pharmacological treatment, such as improvement of orientation, prevention of sensory deprivation, active pain control and prevention of dehydration, to reduce the occurrence of delirium and the results were inconsistent depending on the patients included. However, there have been no randomized clinical trials that have tested the effect of prevention of delirium by applying non-pharmacological multimodal approaches in the intensive care unit for Korean patients.

A randomized controlled trial was planned to evaluate the impact of on-pharmacological multimodal interventions including ongoing orientation, sensory correction, setting of familiar circumstance and promotion of sleep enviromnet for prevention of delirium in intensive care unit in Korea.

Inclusion criteria

• Adult patients over 50 years who are expected to spend more than 24 hours in the intensive care unit

Exclusion criteria

• Patients who developed delirium before entering the intensive care unit
• Patients with cognitive impairment
• Patients who have hearing or vision deficits, or have difficulty in communication
• Patients who are expected to die within 24 hours or do not want life-sustaining treatment