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45/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 45 out of 100. Clinical safety

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Among 51,202 admissions (mean/SD age = 82/7 years), any cognitive morbidity was present in 18,225 (35.6%, 95% CI 35.2-36.0%): delirium occurred in 24.0% (n = 12,289, of which 14.3% (n = 7332) had delirium only and 9.7% (n = 4957) had delirium + dementia) dementia only in 8.7%, (n = 4450), AMTS <8 in 2.9% (n = 1486). The prevalence of cognitive morbidity was highest in geriatrics (44.5%; n = 134/301), general medicine (42.8%; n = 14,346/33,512), trauma/orthopaedics (36.4%; n = 1337/3673), palliative care (36.0%; n = 128/356), stroke (30.8%; n = 144/468), infectious disease (27.6%; n = 42/152), neurosurgery (22.9%; n = 161/702) and general surgery (21.5%; n = 822/3819) and was 10-20% in all other specialties except two. Delirium was the most prevalent cognitive morbidity subtype in 24/29 specialties. Cognitive morbidity was common in older people with unplanned hospital admission across a broad range of specialties, with delirium accounting for most cases. Findings support the need for hospital-wide delirium screening and access to multidisciplinary team input for all specialties. Funding: Rhodes Trust, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institutes for Health Research.

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

APA 7th

Boucher, E. L., Smith, S. C. L., Singh, S., Shepperd, S., & Pendlebury, S. T. (2025). Prevalence of cognitive morbidity including delirium in 51,202 emergency hospital admissions across 29 medical and surgical specialties in ORCHARD-EPR: a cross-sectional study. EClinicalMedicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103641

Vancouver

Boucher EL, Smith SCL, Singh S, Shepperd S, Pendlebury ST. Prevalence of cognitive morbidity including delirium in 51,202 emergency hospital admissions across 29 medical and surgical specialties in ORCHARD-EPR: a cross-sectional study. EClinicalMedicine. 2025. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103641. PMID: 41377909.

BibTeX

@article{boucher2025-41377909,
  author  = {Boucher, Emily Louise and Smith, S C L and Singh, Sudhir and Shepperd, Sasha and Pendlebury, Sarah Tamsin},
  title   = {{Prevalence of cognitive morbidity including delirium in 51,202 emergency hospital admissions across 29 medical and surgical specialties in ORCHARD-EPR: a cross-sectional study}},
  journal = {EClinicalMedicine},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103641},
  pmid    = {41377909},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103641}
}

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Key findings

Among 51,202 admissions (mean/SD age = 82/7 years), any cognitive morbidity was present in 18,225 (35.6%, 95% CI 35.2-36.0%): delirium occurred in 24.0% (n = 12,289, of which 14.3% (n = 7332) had delirium only and 9.7% (n = 4957) had delirium + dementia) dementia only in 8.7%, (n = 4450), AMTS <8 in 2.9% (n = 1486).
The prevalence of cognitive morbidity was highest in geriatrics (44.5%; n = 134/301), general medicine (42.8%; n = 14,346/33,512), trauma/orthopaedics (36.4%; n = 1337/3673), palliative care (36.0%; n = 128/356), stroke (30.8%; n = 144/468), infectious disease (27.6%; n = 42/152), neurosurgery (22.9%; n = 161/702) and general surgery (21.5%; n = 822/3819) and was 10-20% in all other specialties except two.
Delirium was the most prevalent cognitive morbidity subtype in 24/29 specialties.
Cognitive morbidity was common in older people with unplanned hospital admission across a broad range of specialties, with delirium accounting for most cases.
Findings support the need for hospital-wide delirium screening and access to multidisciplinary team input for all specialties.

Why it matters

This cross-sectional study found that cognitive morbidity was present in over a third of emergency hospital admissions, with delirium the most prevalent subtype across most specialties. It supports the need for hospital-wide delirium screening but does not test any treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.

Study details

Participants12,289
Effect size35.6%; 36.0%; 24.0%
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 45/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (EClinicalMedicine)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	EClinicalMedicine: journal h-index 150 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	4 / 4	12,289 participants
Effect reported	2 / 3	Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	1 / 7	Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	0 / 5	0.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	1 / 6	Cited 0.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	0 / 4	Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Sarah Tamsin Pendlebury: h-index 51 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University of Oxford: institution h-index 2,205 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41377909)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	45 / 100	—

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