Abstract

The clinical features of delirium type were retrospectively studied to characterize a delirium type in consecutive 106 patients. The subjects suffered from 15 medical diseases and were grouped into hyperactive, hypoactive and mixed types according to their cardinal features. The incidence of delirium was the highest in 70-year-old subjects and there was a gender effect in all the subjects. A decade effect was present in the outcome, delirium type and delirium duration. The delirium type was associated with age at the delirium onset, outcome and underlying disease. The incidence of hypoactive type correlated with that of mixed and hyperactive types, and a high rate of full recovery in the hyperactive type and a high rate of death in the mixed type were noted. The increase in incidence of the mixed type and the decrease in incidence of the hyperactive type contributed to a poor outcome. Malignancy, hepatic, cerebrovascular and bone and joint diseases highly correlated with the occurrence of delirium.