Delirium: An Independent Predictor of Functional Decline After Cardiac Surgery

To determine whether patients who developed delirium after cardiac surgery were at risk of functional decline.Prospective cohort study.Two academic hospitals and a Veterans Affairs Medical Center.One hundred ninety patients aged 60 and older undergoing elective or urgent cardiac surgery.Delirium was assessed daily and was diagnosed according to the Confusion Assessment Method. Before surgery and 1 and 12 months postoperatively, patients were...