Comparison of clinical outcomes of delirium with and without consultation liaison psychiatry services: Case-controlled retrospective study

Background Delirium is a common neuropsychiatric syndrome associated with significant morbidity and healthcare burden. Consultation-liaison psychiatry (CLP) is frequently involved in delirium management, though evidence regarding outcomes of CLP referral remains limited. Methods This retrospective case-control study examined delirium outcomes over 6 months. Delirium patients referred to CLP were matched by age and gender with those not referred to CLP. Outcomes included length-of-stay (LoS), psychotropics prescribed (PP), mechanical restraint (MR), and Code Greys (CG). Within-group comparisons before and after CLP were also conducted. Results Of 1365 delirium cases, 20 CLP referrals were found and matched with 20 controls. The CLP group had a significantly longer LoS than controls (median 20.5 vs 9, p = .024). More psychotropics were prescribed for the CLP group than for the control group (median 1 vs 0.5,