RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have comprehensively investigated the preva-lence and various potential risk factors for de-lirium among patients with advanced cancer ad-mitted to the acute palliative care unit (APCU). Our objective was to evaluate the comprehen-sive association between delirium and various risk factors among patients with advanced can-cer in an acute palliative care setting using a pa-tient-based multicenter registry cohort.PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a multicenter, patient-based registry cohort study collected in South Korea between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. Delirium was identified using a medical record review based on the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.RESULTS: In total, 2,124 eligible patients with advanced cancer in the APCU met the inclu-sion criteria. There were 127 out of 2,124 pa-tients (prevalence, 6.0%;95% CI, 5.0 to 7.1) with delirium during admission. Delirium in patients with advanced cancer was associated with age >70 years (OR, 1.793;95% CI, 1.246 to 2.581), male sex (OR, 1.675;95% CI, 1.131 to 2.479), no chemotherapy during hospitalization (OR, 2.019;95% CI, 1.236 to 3.298), hearing impairment (OR, 3.566;95% CI, 1.176 to 10.810), underweight (OR, 1.826;95% CI, 1.067 to 3.124), current use of opioid medication (OR, 1.942;95% CI, 1.264 to 2.982), previous history of delirium (OR, 12.497;95% CI, 6.920 to 22.568), and mental illness (OR, 2.333;95% CI, 1.251 to 4.352).CONCLUSIONS: In a large-scale multicenter patient-based registry cohort, delirium was asso-ciated with old age, male sex, no chemotherapy during hospitalization, hearing impairment, un-derweight, current use of opioid medication, and a history of delirium and mental illness. Our find-ings suggest physicians should pay attention to delirium in patients with advanced cancer admit-ted to the APCU with the above risk factors.