Individual research recommendation details

Recommendation ID

CG103/06

Question

Education programme: Does a staff education programme (compared with an educational leaflet or usual care) reduce the incidence of delirium and improve the recognition and recording of delirium in people in hospital?

Any explanatory notes
(if applicable)

Why this is important?

There is some evidence from multicomponent prevention studies to suggest that an education programme for healthcare professionals who care for people at risk of delirium reduces the incidence of delirium. However, the quality of this evidence is poor. There is a need to determine whether education has an important preventive effect on the incidence of delirium. There is also a need to find out if an educational programme increases awareness of delirium, so that delirium is recorded accurately, which is not the case in the UK at present. A cluster randomised trial should be carried out, with whole hospitals randomised to the educational interventions (thereby reducing the trial contamination effects of staff vicariously picking up education from colleagues randomised to the education programme arm). The primary outcomes (incidence of delirium and recording of delirium in the person's healthcare record) should be measured at a minimum of 3 timepoints before and after the intervention.

Source guidance details

Comes from guidance

Delirium: prevention, diagnosis and management in hospital and long-term care

Number

CG103

Date issued

July 2010

Other details