Approaches of Turkish anesthesiologists to delirium observed in intensive care unit patients

Objective

To determine attitudes and practices of the Turkish anesthesiologists and residents about delirium in the ICU.

Methods

An anonymous questionnaire consisting of 22 questions [1] was mailed to 258 anesthesiologists and residents.

Results

One hundred and fifty-four questionnaires were returned (60% response). Of the respondents, 57% were male and 61% were residents. One-half of respondents work in hospitals with more than 800 beds; 65% of respondents had an ICU facility of 7–12 beds. Seventy-two percent of the respondents had seen delirium in the ICU and also 70.2% of these respondents observed delirium in <25% of patients who were on mechanical ventilation. Although delirium was accepted a significant or very serious problem by 92.5% of the respondents, underdiagnosis was acknowledged by 74%. Routine screening for delirium was performed by 41.6% of the anesthesiologists and 88.1% of them were repeating daily. Clinical assessment was used in 76.7% of the screenings. Delirium was treated with haloperidol and benzodiazepine by 61.5% and 24% of the respondents. Of the respondents, 93.4% were not able to attend a meeting related to delirium and 67.6% did not read even an article about delirium.

Conclusion

Turkish anesthesiologists and residents consider delirium a relatively common and serious problem. However, they seldom perform screening tests and try to update their knowledge regarding delirium.