Preoperative Anxiety as a Key Predictor of Postoperative Delirium: Insights from a Year-Long Cohort Study

Background

Postoperative delirium (POD) is a frequent, serious complication following surgery, notably within the postanaesthesia care unit (PACU). It contributes to increased morbidity, prolonged hospital stay, and significant healthcare costs. Despite advances in perioperative care, accurate early identification and prevention of POD remain challenging. Value-based healthcare emphasizes patient-centered outcomes, leveraging Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) to inform clinical management. However, their prognostic utility in perioperative settings is underutilized.

This study evaluates whether systematically collected PROMs and PREMs can predict POD, particularly focusing on symptoms such as pain, anxiety, stress, thirst, and nausea, in the context of a perioperative brain care bundle known as the Safe Brain Initiative (SBI). The goal is to enhance risk stratification and personalize interventions to reduce early POD incidence.