PROVIDENCE – A recently published study by a research team from the VA Providence Healthcare System and Brown University has found that delirium may interfere with recovery in patients hospitalized with heart failure.
The study, led by Dr. James Rudolph, director of the Center of Innovation in Long-term Services and Supports at Brown University School of Public Health, was published this month in JAMA Network Open. It can be found here.
During the study, Rudolph and his team analyzed records from 20,495 veterans, finding that those who were hospitalized for worsening heart failure who also experienced delirium may have a worse long-term outlook than patients who did not develop delirium.
The brain dysfunction likely hinders patients from recovering functional abilities and independence, researchers found.
“Understanding that there’s a relationship between delirium and function for veterans living with heart failure is important because delirium is reversible,” said Dr. Caroline Madrigal, co-first author on the study and a nurse research fellow at the Center of Innovation in Long-term Services and Supports. “This work has implications for how health care professionals approach the assessment and treatment of delirium throughout hospitalizations and treatment courses.”
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
