The role of diagnosis in delirium

Delirium is common and is commonly misdiagnosed, chiefly in being missed (Bhat and Rockwood, 2007). The consequences of misdiagnosis are often severe and wide ranging, affecting patients, caregivers, health professionals, and hospitals (Inouye et al., 2014). Many an older hospitalized person with delirium is trapped in the interface between psychiatry and the rest of medicine, and can too easily be caught in the tendentious battles between treating teams. Both researchers and policymakers have sought to improve this unacceptable state of affairs (Young et al., 2010; Tieges et al., 2015).