The economic impact of delirium is substantial, rivaling the health care costs of falls and diabetes mellitus. These results highlight the need for increased efforts to mitigate this clinically significant and costly disorder.

A chart-based instrument for delirium, which should be useful for patient safety and quality-improvement programs in older persons, was validated. Because of potential misclassification, the chart-based instrument is not recommended for individual patient care or diagnostic purposes.

In this large group of patients with schizophrenia, receipt of a prescription for atypical neuroleptics was significantly associated with diabetes mellitus.

It is very unlikely that $50,000 per QALY is consistent with societal preferences in the United States.

Overall employment of persons with schizophrenia seems to be impeded by clinical problems, including symptoms of schizophrenia and poorer neurocognitive and intrapsychic functioning. However, participation in competitive employment may be specifically impeded by the potentially adverse incentives of disability payments and by race and may be promoted by the availability of rehabilitation services.

Although a number of studies have documented the negative clinical and economic consequences of delirium, interventions to prevent and treat delirium are infrequently implemented. The importance of delirium may continue to be underestimated until its societal and economic impact is documented. We outline the existing literature related to long-term sequelae and costs associated with delirium, and stress the importance of such research in prompting recognition, prevention, and treatment efforts that could reduce the impact of delirium and improve quality of life for our older population and their caregivers.

Patients with CLBP are characterized by greater comorbidity and economic burdens compared with those without CLBP. This economic burden can be attributed to greater prescribing of pain-related medications and increased health resource utilization.

No abstract