Does preoperative depression increase the risk of postoperative delirium in older patients undergoing elective surgery?
Preoperative depression is highly prevalent (23%) in older elective surgery patients and is associated with a doubled risk of postoperative delirium.
The overall prevalence of older surgical patients who suffered from depression was 23%. Preoperative depression was associated with a two-fold higher risk of postoperative delirium. Further work is needed to determine the need for depression screening and treatment preoperatively.
Chen et al. (Wed,) studied this question.