One-Third Of COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients Show Signs Of Delirium: Best Practices Not Used In The Turmoil

From ScienceBlog, "One-Third Of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Show Signs Of Delirium", April 27, 2020, Harvard University:

... [Harvard Professor] Sharon Inouye ... developed a [delirium] program that hundreds of hospitals have used to reduce cases of the condition by an estimated 40 percent.

... best practices for reducing delirium risk are getting lost in the turmoil of COVID-19 care.

Early data from peer-reviewed studies suggest that one-third of hospitalized COVID-19 patients of all ages, and two-thirds of those with severe disease, show signs of delirium, said Inouye. ...

... patients who experience delirium in the hospital remain hospitalized longer than their peers, have more complications and are more likely to die during their hospital stay or in the following year, need long-term care or develop cognitive impairment, including dementia.***... overuse of chemical restraints such as antipsychotics and other sedating drugs. ... when a patient starts to get agitated, providers get scared for the patient’s safety and their own safety and feel they have to sedate the patient. But sedating them is not always needed and leads to many complications. [Emphasis added.]