Proposing a Scientific and Technological Approach to the Summaries of Clinical Issues of Inpatient Elderly with Delirium: A Viewpoint

Abstract

Background/rationale: Despite mounting evidence about delirium, this complex geriatric syndrome is still not well managed in clinical contexts. The aging population creates a very demanding area for innovation and technology in healthcare. For instance, an outline of an aging-friendly healthcare environment and clear guidance for technology-supported improvements for people at delirium risk are lacking. Objective: We aimed to foster debate about the importance of technical support in optimizing healthcare professional practice and improving the outcomes for inpatients’ at delirium risk. We focused on critical clinical points in the field of delirium worthy of being addressed by a multidisciplinary approach. Methods: Starting from a consensus workshop sponsored by the Management Perfectioning Course based at the Marco Biagi Foundation (Modena, Italy) about clinical issues related to delirium management still not addressed in our healthcare organizations, we developed a requirements’ analysis among the representatives of different disciplines and tried to formulate how technology could support the summaries of the clinical issues. We analyzed the national and international panorama by a PubMed consultation of articles with the following keywords in advanced research: “delirium”, “delirium management”, “technology in healthcare”, and “elderly population”. Results: Despite international recommendations, delirium remains underdiagnosed, underdetected, underreported, and mismanaged in the acute hospital, increasing healthcare costs, healthcare professionals’ job distress, and poor clinical outcomes. Discussion: Although all healthcare professionals recognize delirium as a severe and potentially preventable source of morbidity and mortality for hospitalized older people, it receives insufficient attention in resource allocation and multidisciplinary research. We synthesized how tech-based tools could offer potential solutions to the critical clinical points in delirium management.

Delirium Diagnosis, Complication Recognition, and Treatment Knowledge among Nurses in an Italian Local Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The results highlighted the heterogeneous nature of knowledge within our sample, with no significant association with socio-demographic variables. Overall, the knowledge level was found to be inadequately aligned with the increasing clinical impact of delirium on healthcare services [ 5 , 15 ]. Similar levels of poor delirium knowledge have been reported in previous studies in China and the Netherlands [ 14 , 16 ].…”

“…Delirium is a clinical and organizational issue involving the entire healthcare system that needs resource allocation and multidisciplinary research [ 5 ] and stands as the predominant complication observed among hospitalized individuals aged 65 years and older, impacting in excess of 2.6 million senior citizens annually within the United States [ 6 ]. Despite its notable prevalence, it frequently goes unnoticed, as demonstrated by a study by De La Cruz et al estimating the rate of undetected delirium to be as elevated as 60% [ 7 ].…”