Early signs of delirium in cancer patients

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Delirium is common among cancer patients after bone marrow transplantation, but may be hard to spot.
The classical signs of delirium are confusion and hallucination. It's a common condition among cancer patients and has been linked to a poorer outcome - so it's important that it be diagnosed and treated.

Researchers at the University of Washington and elsewhere now reveal that delirium first shows itself in subtle ways that are easily missed. They looked at 90 cancer patients having a bone marrow transplant and described the time course of delirium in the 50 per cent who experienced it.

There were three clusters of symptoms occurring early on - behavioural, cognitive, and mood or consciousness altering. These were harder to spot than hallucinations or confusion and so, they say, doctors should look out for them carefully. Patients reporting emotional distress, fatigue and pain were also more likely to experience delirium.

Source
Cancer online 10th January 2005