Abstract
Aim: To study the phenomenology and motor sub-types of delirium in patients admitted in a Coronary Care Unit (CCU).
Methods: Three hundred and nine consecutive patients were screened for delirium, and those found positive for the same were evaluated by a psychiatrist on DSM-IVTR criteria to confirm the diagnosis. Those with a diagnosis of delirium were evaluated on the DRS-R-98 to study the phenomenology and on the amended Delirium Motor Symptom Scale (DMSS) to study the motor sub-types.
Results: Eighty-one patients were found to have delirium. Commonly seen symptoms of delirium included: disturbances in sleep–wake cycle, lability of affect, thought abnormality, disturbance in attention, disorientation, short-term memory, and long–term memory. Very few patients had delusions. More than half of the participants were categorized as having hyperactive (n = 46; 56.8%) followed by hypoactive sub-type (n = 21; 26%) and mixed sub-type (n = 9; 11.1%) of delirium. There were minor differences in the frequency and severity of symptoms of delirium between incidence and prevalence cases of delirium and those with different motoric sub-types.
Conclusion: Delirium in CCU set-up is characterized by the symptoms of disturbances in sleep–wake cycle, lability of affect, thought abnormality, disturbance in attention, disorientation, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Hyperactive delirium is more common than hypoactive delirium.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.