Abstract This study aimed to figure out the correlation of stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) and serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) with elderly ICU patients’ occurrence, severity and duration of delirium, and to evaluate their predictive value for delirium. This research included 168 patients who were 60 years or older and admitted to our hospital’s ICU from August 2024 to August 2025. They were split into delirium group (n = 63) and Non-delirium group (n = 105) based on whether delirium happened during hospitalization. Delirium incidence was measured with the Confusion Assessment Method for ICU (CAM-ICU). CAM-ICU-7 was adopted to determined how severe delirium it was. Delirium/coma free days (DCFDs) were used as a negative proxy for how long delirium lasted. Patients’ baseline data and laboratory indicators within one day of being admitted were collected. SHR was calculated by detecting fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and serum IL-6 concentration was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The independent influencing factors of delirium were screened by uni-variate and multi-variate logistic regression. Kaplan–Meier curve was employed to analyze the first onset time of delirium. Correlation analysis helped determine the association of SHR and IL-6 with the severity of delirium and DCFDs. SHR and IL-6 predictive value was assessed through the ROC curve. SHR and IL-6 levels in delirium group were significantly higher when comparing to Non-delirium group (P < 0.01). According to multivariate Logistic regression, SHR and IL-6 were independent influencing factors of delirium in elderly ICU patients. Kaplan–Meier curve showed that the first delirium in patients with high-level SHR and IL-6 was earlier when comparing to individuals with low-to-medium-level SHR and IL-6 (Log-rank test < 0.05). Moreover, SHR and IL-6 were positively correlated with CAM-ICU-7 score and negatively correlated with DCFDs (P < 0.05). As shown by ROC curve, IL-6 and SHR had good predictive value for delirium. SHR and serum IL-6 have a close link to the occurrence, severity and first occurrence time of delirium in elderly ICU patients. The two are independent influencing factors of delirium and can be potential clinical biomarkers for evaluating delirium risk in elderly ICU patients.
Zhu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.