Male gender influences response to an educational package for delirium prevention among older people: a stratified analysis.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Increasing evidence is pointing towards the efficacy of intervention programmes in decreasing the incidence of delirium among older people admitted to hospital. We have previously shown that an educational package directed at doctors and nurses significantly decreased the point prevalence of delirium among older people on a general medical ward. It is not yet established whether specific and 'fixed' patients' characteristics influence the rate of response to such an intervention.

METHODS:
A secondary, exploratory stratified analysis was carried out to determine whether age, sex and presence of dementia might influence the effect of the intervention through a delirium educational package. This information is important in order to increase the effectiveness of preventive measures across various patients' subgroups.

RESULTS:
Male gender (OR 0.17, 0.05-0.65) significantly (p = 0.030) and positively influence the response to the educational package compared to female gender (OR 1.04, 0.38-2.81). Neither age nor the presence of underlying dementia was associated with a significant influence on the rate of response to the delirium prevention package.

CONCLUSION:
Staff may be more likely to implement an earlier and more effective intervention for males who are perceived as presenting a higher risk to themselves and others. The results reported highlight the need to increase staff's vigilance to female patients whose prodromal symptoms of delirium may be underemphasised. Understanding different sub-group responses to preventive educational packages for delirium is an important consideration if these are to be applied widely.

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Author information

Author/s: Tabet, Naji (N); Stewart, Rob (R); Hudson, Sheila (S); Sweeney, Vanessa (V); Sauer, Justin (J); Bryant, Catherine (C); Macdonald, Alastair (A); Howard, Robert (R);

Affiliation: Postgraduate Medical School, Faculty of Health, University of Brighton, UK. n.t.tabet(-atsign-)brighton.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: International journal of geriatric psychiatry (Int J Geriatr Psychiatry), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-May; vol 21 (issue 5) : pp 493-7

Dates: Created 2006/05/11; Completed 2007/01/04;

PMID: 16676296, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Delirium - diagnosis; etiology; prevention & control
Dementia - psychology
Female
Hospitalization
Humans

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