Delirium in a sub-intensive care unit for the elderly: occurrence and risk factors.

Background And Aims: The objective was to study occurrence and risk factors of delirium in a new model of care, the Sub-Intensive Care Unit for the elderly (SICU), which is a level of care between that offered by ordinary wards and intensive care.

Methods: A prospective observational study of 401 consecutively admitted patients, 60+ years, in a four-bed SICU in the geriatric ward of a general hospital. Delirium was detected by the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) at admission (prevalent) and during SICU stay (incident).

Subintensive care unit for the elderly: a new model of care for critically ill frail elderly medical patients.

Objective: An increasing number of elderly patients are admitted to the hospital for critical diseases and the gap between supply and demand of intensive care resources is a growing problem. To meet this challenge, 4 beds in a 24-bed acute care for the elderly (ACE) medical unit were dedicated to a subintensive care unit (SICU). Severely ill elderly medical patients, requiring a higher level of care than provided in ordinary wards, are admitted.

Relationship between functional loss before hospital admission and mortality in elderly persons with medical illness.

Objective: This hospital-based prospective study tests the hypothesis that, in a large group of hospitalized elderly patients, those who report functional decline between pre-illness baseline and hospital admission have a higher risk of death.

Methods: Nine hundred fifty elderly ambulant patients (F = 69.3%; mean age 78.