A new study has suggested that stroke patients who experience delirium could be at a higher risk of developing cognitive and psychiatric difficulties.
What is delirium?
Some stroke patients will experience what can be described as a temporary state of acute confusion.
This condition is called delirium and will often occur in association with illness and medical interventions.
Characteristics of delirium include, the patient appearing to be suddenly disoriented and inattentive, without being cause by any prior dementia or known brain diseases.
The patient may also be easily distracted, struggle to maintain conversation as well as their thoughts and statements being incoherent.
The condition does decrease with time, however, the duration the patient experiences delirium may differ.
The researchers on this study has highlighted that despite delirium being a temporary condition, it is important to examine whether it can cause long-term health issues for stroke patients.
The study
This study, conducted in Norway first looked at the percentage of stroke patients that experience delirium in Norway, with that figure standing at 10 per cent.
The researchers looked to see whether patients who developed delirium during stroke scored worse on cognitive and psychiatric measures in the years afterwards.
Therefore, they developed a study of the long-term effects of delirium in stroke patients with a group of several dedicated researchers.
The study authors state that this is a field that is poorly understood both nationally and internationally.
Struggles
The analysis from the study displays that stroke patients who experience delirium during stroke actually had a greater chance of developing cognitive and psychiatric difficulties in the years after.
The tests were taken in three different time periods between 3 months, 18 months and 36 months.
Those that had experienced delirium scored worse on all three occasions, suggesting they had suffered greater cognitive impairment compared to stroke patients who had not experienced delirium.
Additionally, delirium was discovered to increase the likelihood of anxiety and other emotional symptoms in the years following stroke.
After three years, the stroke patients who had experienced delirium had greater anxiety than the patients who had not experiences this state of confusion during their stroke.
Questionnaires for mapping emotional difficulties also showed that patients with delirium scored worse on these measures.
Why?
The researchers have said that it was difficult to identify one specific reason as to why delirium might increase the chance of cognitive and psychiatric symptoms.
They have suggested that the patients that experience delirium have greater vulnerabilities at the outset.
However, results were shown to be similar when factors such as dementia, complications and other illnesses during stroke were controlled.
They also say that they may not be able to explain the symptoms solely by previous dementia or other vulnerabilities.
Another explanation given by the researchers suggests that this could be that the state of confusion affects the rehabilitation process.
The researchers also suggest that the state of confusion caused by delirium can be used as a warning sign that the patient is experiencing major medical and psychological stress during the stroke, and that their findings display that this may have consequences in the future.
Findings also suggest that these patients may need special follow-up in the stroke’s post-acute phase.
More delirium research needed
The researchers have emphasised that more research is needed on the long-term consequences of delirium during stroke.
Further research can also provide insight into delirium prevention in stroke patients.
The study’s authors state the importance of understanding delirium, to help in the fight against dementia and psychiatric symptoms after stroke.
