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76/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 76 out of 100. Risk factors

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Importance Delirium is associated with increased hospital costs, health care complications, and increased mortality. Long-term consequences of delirium on cognition have not been synthesized and quantified via meta-analysis. Objective To determine if an episode of delirium was an independent risk factor for long-term cognitive decline, and if it was, whether it was causative or an epiphenomenon in already compromised individuals. Data sources A systematic search in PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase was conducted from January 1, 1965, to December 31, 2018. A systematic review guided by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses was conducted. Search terms included delirium AND postoperative cognitive dysfunction; delirium and cognitive decline; delirium AND dementia; and delirium AND memory. Study selection Inclusion criteria for studies included contrast between groups with delirium and without delirium; an objective continuous or binary measure of cognitive outcome; a final time point of 3 or more months after the delirium episode. The electronic search was conducted according to established methodologies and was executed on October 17, 2018. Data extraction and synthesis Three authors extracted data on individual characteristics, study design, and outcome, followed by a second independent check on outcome measures. Effect sizes were calculated as Hedges g. If necessary, binary outcomes were also converted to g. Only a single effect size was calculated for each study. Main outcomes and measures The planned main outcome was magnitude of cognitive decline in Hedges g effect size in delirium groups when contrasted with groups that did not experience delirium. Results Of 1583 articles, data subjected from the 24 studies (including 3562 patients who experienced delirium and 6987 controls who did not) were included in a random-effects meta-analysis for pooled effect estimates and random-effects meta-regressions to identify sources of study variance. One study was excluded as an outlier. There was a significant association between delirium and long-term cognitive decline, as the estimated effect size (Hedges g) for 23 studies was 0.45 (95% CI, 0.34-0.57; P Conclusions and relevance In this meta-analysis, delirium was significantly associated with long-term cognitive decline in both surgical and nonsurgical patients.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Goldberg, T. E., Chen, C., Wang, Y., Jung, E., Swanson, A., Ing, C., et al. (2020). Association of Delirium With Long-term Cognitive Decline: A Meta-analysis. JAMA neurology. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.2273

Vancouver

Goldberg TE, Chen C, Wang Y, Jung E, Swanson A, Ing C, et al. Association of Delirium With Long-term Cognitive Decline: A Meta-analysis. JAMA neurology. 2020. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.2273. PMID: 32658246.

BibTeX

@article{goldberg2020-32658246,
  author  = {Goldberg, T. E. and Chen, C. and Wang, Y. and Jung, E. and Swanson, A. and Ing, C. and Garcia, P. S. and Whittington, R. A. and others},
  title   = {{Association of Delirium With Long-term Cognitive Decline: A Meta-analysis}},
  journal = {JAMA neurology},
  year    = {2020},
  doi     = {10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.2273},
  pmid    = {32658246},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.2273}
}

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Key findings

Importance Delirium is associated with increased hospital costs, health care complications, and increased mortality.
Results Of 1583 articles, data subjected from the 24 studies (including 3562 patients who experienced delirium and 6987 controls who did not) were included in a random-effects meta-analysis for pooled effect estimates and random-effects meta-regressions to identify sources of study variance.
There was a significant association between delirium and long-term cognitive decline, as the estimated effect size (Hedges g) for 23 studies was 0.45 (95% CI, 0.34-0.57; P < .001).

Why it matters

This meta-analysis of 24 studies found a significant association between delirium and long-term cognitive decline. It shows delirium is linked to later cognitive decline but does not establish that treating delirium prevents dementia, and it does not test a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.

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Study details

Study designsystematic review
Participants3,562
Evidence strengthHigh

How this study scored 76/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a systematic review of all the studies on the question. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (JAMA neurology)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	JAMA Neurology: journal h-index 235 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	12 / 12	A systematic review of all the studies on the question
Strength of evidence	5 / 5	Rated “high” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	2 / 5	2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	3 / 4	3,562 participants
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	A review of other studies — randomization is not credited here
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 595 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	5 / 5	74.4 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020
Impact for its field and year	5 / 6	Cited 30.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 21 other studies in this library
Still being cited	4 / 4	Cited 382 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	2 / 4	Last-listed author Vivek K. Moitra: h-index 26 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	Columbia University: institution h-index 1,824 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 32658246)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	76 / 100	—

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