Association between Delirium and Prehospitalization Medication in Poststroke Patients.

Purpose: Medication is an important risk factor for delirium; however, the association between delirium and prehospitalization medication is unclear. We investigated the association between prestroke medication and poststroke delirium.

Materials And Methods: All patients hospitalized in the stroke care unit from September 2011 to September 2012 were selected, and their delirium symptoms, patient information, and pre- and poststroke medications were analyzed. Delirium was defined as a score of  4 or higher on the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist. Factors that were related to delirium were extracted using univariate analysis, and the independent risk factors were determined using multivariate analysis.

Results: Of the 269 patients analyzed, 97 (36%) experienced delirium. Univariate analysis revealed significant differences between the delirium and nondelirium groups in age, dementia, previous cerebrovascular disease, craniotomy, all insertion-tube types, and 6 categories of prestroke medication. Prestroke polypharmacy was associated with poststroke delirium (P = .002). Multivariate analysis showed that taking antianxiety agents or sleep aids was an independent risk factor for delirium (odds ratio: 3.17, 95% confidence interval: 1.16-8.82).

Conclusions: The present study suggests that prestroke medication affects the onset of poststroke delirium. These findings can contribute to the prediction and prevention of this condition.