A review of recent clinical trials and guidelines on the prevention and management of delirium in hospitalized older patients.

Treatment of acute illness in older adults is frequently complicated by the presence of delirium. Delirium is characterized by the development of an altered mental status over the course of hours to days, and can have a fluctuating course. Patients with delirium have difficulty paying attention to their environment, have disorganized thinking, and usually have an altered level of consciousness. While scientists continue to elucidate the pathophysiologic mechanisms associated with delirium, clinicians can identify patients at risk for delirium and diagnose it using valid instruments, such as the Confusion Assessment Method and Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit. Delirium is an independent risk factor for death, institutionalization, and dementia, and resolves in many patients by the time of hospital discharge. For patients admitted to medical units, optimal management of delirium includes reassessment of medications, pain, sleep, nutrition, mobility, need for physical restraints, and bowel and bladder function. The use of antipsychotic medication to sedate delirious patients should be restricted to patients in danger of harming themselves or others and should be used when nonpharmacologic means fail. Multicomponent interventions performed by the hospital care team that address risk factors can prevent delirium in patients in medical units and those undergoing hip fracture repair. This includes attention to the depth of sedation during spinal anesthesia and the addition of regional nerve blocks to patient-controlled analgesia in orthopedic patients, both of which may reduce postoperative delirium. Perioperative use of antipsychotics may further reduce the incidence of delirium, although hospital length of stay has not been routinely reduced. Appropriate management of analgesia, sedation, and delirium in the intensive care unit is also associated with reduced duration of mechanical ventilation, as well as intensive care unit and hospital length of stay. The use of dexmedetomidine, an α-adrenergic receptor agonist, for sedation may reduce intensive care unit length of stay when compared with use of benzodiazepines.

Effects of transdermal testosterone on bone and muscle in older men with low bioavailable testosterone levels, low bone mass, and physical frailty.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of testosterone supplementation on bone, body composition, muscle, physical function, and safety in older men. DESIGN: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: A major medical institution. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred thirty-one men (mean age 77.1 +/- 7.6) with low testosterone, history of fracture, or bone mineral density (BMD) T-score less than -2.0 and frailty. INTERVENTION: Participants received 5 mg/d of testosterone or placebo for 12 to 24 months; all received calcium (1500 mg/d diet and supplement) and cholecalciferol (1,000 IU/d). MEASUREMENTS: BMD of hip, lumbar spine, and mid-radius; body composition; sex hormones, calcium-regulating hormones; bone turnover markers; strength; physical performance; and safety parameters. RESULTS: Ninety-nine men (75.6%) completed 12 months, and 62 (47.3%) completed end therapy (mean 23 months; range 16-24 months for 62 who completed therapy). Study adherence was 54%, with 40% of subjects maintaining 70% or greater adherence. Testosterone and bioavailable testosterone levels at 12 months were 583 ng/dL and 157 ng/dL, respectively, in the treatment group. BMD on testosterone increased 1.4% at the femoral neck and 3.2% at the lumbar spine (P=.005) and decreased 1.3% at the mid-radius (P<.001). There was an increase in lean mass and a decrease in fat mass in the testosterone group but no differences in strength or physical performance. There were no differences in safety parameters. CONCLUSION: Older, frail men receiving testosterone replacement increased testosterone levels and had favorable changes in body composition, modest changes in axial BMD, and no substantial changes in physical function.