Risk Assessment for Postoperative Delirium: Derivation of a Self-Administered Tablet Computer-based Clinical Screening Tool

Background:

Postoperative delirium (POD) - a temporary state of confusion - is a frequent complication of surgery, which most commonly occurs in elderly patients. Depending on the risk profile, 9-87% of patients are affected. Regarding the increasing age of surgical patients, prevention of POD is of even greater importance. New data lead to the assumption that medical preventive strategies may influence the frequency or at least the severity or duration of POD.

Preventive measures in patients at increased risk for developing POD could possibly be administered; however, clinical predictors for POD are rare and/or unspecific. Different scores and test batteries to assess the preoperative risk of POD have been developed, but these tools are time-consuming and require trained personnel.

In 2014, a tablet computer application was developed at the University Hospital Basel with the primary objective to assess the risk of developing POD in surgical patients. The first part records patient details, such as age, level of training, language, sensory impairment, and regular drug intake. The second part tests different cognitive functions, more precisely cognitive self-assessment, temporal orientation, episodic memory, working memory, attention, and executive functions. In contrary to already available tools, this application can be operated by the patient alone without the help of trained staff. It was tested in healthy individuals and patients with mild cognitive impairment and should now be evaluated in a clinical setting.

Study design: