Purpose A systematic review of the literature was conducted to determine the effects of early cognitive interventions on delirium outcomes in critically ill patients. Source Search strategies were developed for MEDLINE, EMBASE, Joanna Briggs Institute, Cochrane, Scopus, and CINAHL databases. Eligible studies described the application of early cognitive interventions for delirium prevention or treatment within any intensive care setting.

Purpose Intensive care unit (ICU) delirium is a common complication of critical illness requiring a multimodal approach to management. We assessed the feasibility of a novel occupational therapist (OT)-guided cognitive intervention protocol, titrated according to sedation level, in critically ill patients. Methods Patients aged C 18 yr admitted to a medical/surgical ICU were randomized to the standard delirium prevention protocol or to the OT-guided cognitive intervention protocol in addition to standard of care. The