A roadmap to advance delirium research: Recommendations from the NIDUS Scientific Think Tank

Esther S Oh; Oluwaseun Akeju; Michael S Avidan; Colm Cunningham; Kathleen M Hayden; Richard N Jones; Ara S Khachaturian; Babar A Khan; Edward R Marcantonio; Dale M Needham; Karin J Neufeld; Louise Rose; Jessica Spence; Zoë Tieges; Phillip Vlisides; Sharon K Inouye; NIDUS Writing Group

doi:10.1002/alz.12076

A roadmap to advance delirium research: Recommendations from the NIDUS Scientific Think Tank

Alzheimers Dement. 2020 May;16(5):726-733. doi: 10.1002/alz.12076. Epub 2020 Apr 14.

Authors

Esther S Oh¹, Oluwaseun Akeju², Michael S Avidan³, Colm Cunningham⁴, Kathleen M Hayden⁵, Richard N Jones⁶, Ara S Khachaturian⁷, Babar A Khan⁸, Edward R Marcantonio⁹, Dale M Needham¹⁰, Karin J Neufeld¹¹, Louise Rose¹², Jessica Spence¹³, Zoë Tieges¹⁴, Phillip Vlisides¹⁵, Sharon K Inouye¹⁶; NIDUS Writing Group

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
² Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³ Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
⁴ School of Biochemistry and Immunology & Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
⁵ Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁷ Campaign to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
⁸ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Occupational Medicine, Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
⁹ Division of General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
¹² Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, King's College London, London, UK.
¹³ Departments of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁴ Edinburgh Delirium Research Group, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
¹⁶ Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Abstract

Delirium is an acute disorder of attention and cognition. It occurs across the life span, yet it is particularly common among older adults, and is closely linked with underlying neurocognitive disorders. Evidence is mounting that intervening on delirium may represent an important opportunity for delaying the onset or progression of dementia. To accelerate the current understanding of delirium, the Network for Investigation of Delirium: Unifying Scientists (NIDUS) held a conference "Advancing Delirium Research: A Scientific Think Tank" in June 2019. This White Paper encompasses the major knowledge and research gaps identified at the conference: advancing delirium definition and measurement, understanding delirium pathophysiology, and prevention and treatment of delirium. A roadmap of research priorities is proposed to advance the field in a systematic, interdisciplinary, and coordinated fashion. A call is made for an international consortium and biobank targeted to delirium, as well as a public health campaign to advance the field.

Keywords: biomarkers; definition; delirium; dementia; diagnosis; measurement; pathophysiology; prevention; public health campaign; treatment.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Aged
Attention
Biomedical Research*
Cognition*
Delirium* / physiopathology
Delirium* / prevention & control
Delirium* / therapy
Dementia / etiology
Humans
Public Health

Grants and funding

R24 AG054259/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States