O-163 Does Early Screening Lead To Higher Prevalence Of Paediatric Delirium?

Introduction Early screening of paediatric delirium (PD) allows for early intervention if necessary. The aim of this study was to determine if early screening with the SOS-PD scale led to higher prevalence of PD in ICU patients. Methods A prospective before-after study design was applied in a population of children aged >3 months and admitted for ≥48 h to the PICU. In the before-period the prevalence of PD was estimated in terms of the number of children with PD confirmed by the consulting psychiatrist. During the after-period nurses systematically assessed the children with the SOS-PD scale three times a day in addition to the psychiatric consultation (SOS-PD score ≥4). Results 148 and 150 children were included in the before and after period, respectively. The prevalence of PD was 6.1% and 8.7% for the before and after period respectively (see Table). The relative risk of PD with early screening was 1:43 (95% CI 0.63 to 3.23). In 33 patients (22%) the SOS-PD score was ≥4 on one or more occasions. In 14 of these patients, the child psychiatrist was consulted. In the remaining patients the child psychiatrist was not consulted for the following reasons: only once a high score (n = 9), adverse effects of sedatives (n = 4), and underlying disease/motor restlessness (n = 6). Conclusions Systematic early screening of PD resulted in a higher incidence of PD and could contribute to timely start of treatment.