Korean J Fam Med.  2009 Apr;30(4):285-291. 10.4082/kjfm.2009.30.4.285.

Delirium in the Final Weeks of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients

• Cho HJ
• Kim HK
• Kim KK
• Kim YI
• Suh SY
• Cho KH
• Kang HC
• Youn BB

• KMID: 2234541
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.2009.30.4.285

Abstract

BACKGROUND
S: In terminally ill cancer patients, delirium must be considered to be important clinically and for the quality of life. We reviewed cases of delirium in hospitalized cancer patients with the aim to recognize and treat delirium. METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively the medical records of patients admitted with terminal cancer from April 2003 to April 2004 in the department of family medicine, National Health Insurance Corporation Ilsan Hospital. A total of 71 patients were evaluated with age, sex, oncological diagnosis, metastases, morphine (oral morphine equivalents/day, OME) use and amount, sedatives use, duration from delirium to death, and laboratory fi ndings. Analysis was conducted to fi nd the characteristics of delirium patients and to quantify the relationship between delirium and predicting factors. RESULTS: Among 71 cases, those patients who developed delirium were 41 (57.7%). Among them, gastric cancer was the most common diagnosis with 10 patients (24.4%), followed by colon and lung cancers (9: 22%, 5: 12.2%). The patients receiving sedatives or morphines were 24 (58.5%) and 28 (68.3%), respectively. The mean amount of morphine was 168.6 +/- 125.5 mg OME/day. Hyperbilirubinemia (4.2 +/- 9.2 mg/dL) and hyponatremia (132.5 +/- 4.5 mM/L) were found. Not only bone metastasis and the use of morphine or sedatives but serum Na were significant (P = 0.047; P < 0.001; P = 0.069; P = 0.029). By logistic regression analyses, the occurrence of delirium was increased with decreased serum Na (odds ratio [95% CI] 0.798 [0.649-0.981]) and increased use of sedatives (5.955 [1.080-32.835]). CONCLUSION: In terminally ill cancer patients, the risk factors of delirium were bone metastasis, the use of morphine or sedatives, and serum Na level. Among these, the use of sedatives and serum Na level were independent risk factors.

Keyword

Delirium; Terminal Cancer; Risk Factors

MeSH Terms

Colon
Delirium
Humans
Hyperbilirubinemia
Hypnotics and Sedatives
Hyponatremia
Logistic Models
Lung Neoplasms
Medical Records
Morphine
National Health Programs
Neoplasm Metastasis
Quality of Life
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Stomach Neoplasms
Terminally Ill
Hypnotics and Sedatives
Morphine