Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
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The purpose of this study was fourfold; to determine the rate of delirium among hospitalized older persons, to contrast the clinical outcomes of patients with and without delirium, to identify clinical predictors of delirium, and to validate the predictive model in an independent sample of patients. ⋯ This study confirms the high rate of delirium among hospitalized older persons and the associated adverse outcomes of prolonged hospital stays and increased risk of death. Patients can be stratified according to their risk for developing delirium using relatively few clinical characteristics which should be assessed, on all hospitalized older persons.