Point prevalence of delirium among critically ill patients in Saudi Arabia: A multicenter study

Delirium is commonly recognized among critically ill patients; previous work suggests that delirium prevalence is up to 80% in intensive care unit (ICU) patients and is associated with a variety of adverse outcomes. While several tools have been validated for the detection of ICU delirium, the confusion assessment method -ICU and the intensive care delirium screening checklist are the most widely studied and used. Several risk factors are known to influence delirium occurrence such as benzodiazepines use, drug-induced coma, sleep alterations, metabolic disturbances, and sepsis. In Saudi Arabia, few studies have discussed delirium burden and associated risk factors among critically ill patients. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of ICU delirium and to study the risk factors associated with the development of delirium in patients in the intensive care setting in Saudi Arabia. This is a 1-day cross-sectional study performed on January 28, 2020, in the medical-surgical ICUs at 14 hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Patients are excluded from the study if they have traumatic brain injury, documented dementia in patient's medical chart, and the inability to conduct valid delirium assessment.