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Frailty and Delirium in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of the Literature
Author(s) -
Persico Ilaria,
Cesari Matteo,
Morandi Alessandro,
Haas Justin,
Mazzola Paolo,
Zambon Antonella,
Ani Giorgio,
Bellelli Giuseppe
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.15503
Subject(s) - delirium , medicine , meta analysis , medline , confidence interval , study heterogeneity , scopus , systematic review , relative risk , publication bias , psychiatry , political science , law
OBJECTIVES To evaluate the relationship between frailty and delirium. DESIGN Systematic review and meta‐analysis. SETTING MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases were searched for articles on frailty and delirium published on or before October 31, 2017. PARTICIPANTS Individuals aged 65 and older. MEASUREMENTS Two authors independently reviewed all English‐language citations, extracted relevant data, and assessed studies for potential bias. Articles involving pediatric or neurosurgical populations, alcohol or substance abuse, psychiatric illness, head trauma, or stroke, as well as review articles, letters, and case reports were excluded. Studies underwent qualitative or quantitative analysis according to specified criteria. Using a random‐effects or fixed‐effects model, relative risk (RR) was calculated for the effect of frailty as a predictor of subsequent delirium. Heterogeneity was tested using Q and I 2 statistics. RESULTS We identified 1,626 articles from our initial search, of which 20 fulfilled the selection criteria (N=5,541 participants, mean age 77.8). Eight studies were eligible for meta‐analysis, showing a significant association between Q2 frailty and subsequent delirium (RR = 2.19, 95% confidence interval = 1.65–2.91). There was low variability among studies in the measures of association between frailty and delirium (I 2 2.24, p‐value Q‐statistic = .41) but high heterogeneity in the methods used to assess the two conditions. CONCLUSION This systematic review and meta‐analysis supports the existence of an independent relationship between frailty and delirium, although there is notable methodological heterogeneity between the methods used to assess the 2 conditions. Future studies are needed to better delineate the dynamics between these syndromes.