[Atypical antipsychotics for delirium in hospitalized patients].

Abstract

Introduction\nFor the pharmacotherapy of delirium in elderly adults who are hospitalized, atypical antipsychotics are used. Currently, there is insufficient evidence on the effectiveness of this treatment in low complexity units.\n\n\nMethods\nWe searched in Epistemonikos, the largest database of systematic reviews in health, which is maintained by screening multiple information sources, including MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, among others. We extracted data from the systematic reviews, reanalyzed data of primary studies, conducted a meta-analysis, and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE approach.\n\n\nResults and conclusions\nWe identified 13 systematic reviews that included three randomized trials. We concluded that the use of atypical antipsychotics in hospitalized patients likely increases the risk of mortality compared to placebo and could decrease the response rate associated with reducing the risk of adverse effects. Furthermore, using atypical antipsychotics probably results in low or no difference in the severity of delirium.