# DELIRIUM RECONSIDERED--ACUTE COGNITIVE CHANGE IN AGE

> **NIH NIH R01** · ALLEGHENY UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES · 1993 · $254,624

## Abstract

Delirium and related toxic and metabolic encephalopathies are potentially
treatable and reversible cognitive disorders that are common in geriatric
patients with medical illness.  The Institute of Medicine has cited its
"high prevalence and tremendous associated morbidity and costs" and has
celled for further research leading to knowledge of basic mechanisms and
effective interventions.  Such research must complement that on
Alzheimer's disease and other irreversible dementias; maintaining the
cognitive functioning of the elderly requires further knowledge about
both metabolic and structural brain disease.  What is currently known
about delirium is derived almost entirely from symptoms observed in
patients with acute medical illnesses, usually in the inpatient setting;
little is known of its prevalence or symptomatology when it occurs as a
complication of chronic illness.  Accordingly, a priority in further
research must be on reconsidering and validating approaches to diagnosis
and case identification.  We are proposing a program of research
consisting of three studies designed to investigate delirium and related
disorders in vulnerable patient populations.  Study I will evaluate the
presence of clinical features associated with delirium in chronically ill
vs. health geriatric subjects with normal cognitive status or mild
impairment; the relevant parameters will include measures of attention,
of the electroencephalographic (EEG) background, and of fluctuations in
both cognitive and EEG measures.  The other studies will extend ongoing
work to develop and validate methods for case identification that are
based on measures of change within the individual rather than upon the
observation of symptoms or deficits that emerge in the pathological
state.  We propose to use prediction intervals derived from repeated
cognitive and EEG measures in healthy subjects as a metric for
quantifying the magnitude of change within the individual and for
defining significant change as a categorical event.  Study IIA will
refine and validate these methods through observation of the effects of
administering the drug diphenhydramine to healthy elderly volunteers.
Study IIB will assess the validity and clinical applicability of these
methods in a more naturalistic study comparing the cognitive and EEG
effects of centrally acting anticholinergic medications with those of
other (centrally-inactive) medications in patients being treated for
urological or gastrointestinal disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3123210
- **Project number:** 1R01AG011234-01
- **Recipient organization:** ALLEGHENY UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** IRA R KATZ
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1993
- **Award amount:** $254,624
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1993-04-15 → 1997-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3123210

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3123210, DELIRIUM RECONSIDERED--ACUTE COGNITIVE CHANGE IN AGE (1R01AG011234-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3123210. Licensed CC0.

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