Oxford and Reading Cognitive Health After Recovery from acute illness and Delirium- Prospective Study-ORCHARD-PS
Prospective study of older hospital patients to understand the causes of delirium and future dementia or accelerated cognitive decline with multimodal data collection
Study Aims
to understand THE causes OF new or worsened confusion (so-called delirium) in older hospital patients and to identify those at high risk of future dementia
Over half of people admitted to hospital are aged 65 or older. Many older patients are at high risk of delirium and future dementia because of multiple conditions and the effects of hospital illness. We want to understand why some patients get delirium in hospital and what improves recovery after hospital discharge. We also want to understand how hospital illness can trigger worsening of thinking and memory and increase the risk of future dementia. In particular, we think that certain brain changes caused by previous strokes or damage to brain blood vessels may make certain people particularly vulnerable to worsening thinking and memory after a hospital illness. To achieve our study aims, we are collecting clinical information from patients using questionnaires and from EPRs, doing brain scans using a new generation CT-scanner, and taking blood samples to look for markers of infection and inflammation and genetic factors.
We will use our findings to develop risk scores for delirium and dementia combining information from clinical information, brain scans and blood tests. Eventually, these risk scores will be shown in the EPR to help healthcare staff provide better care for patients. In addition, our work will help understand why delirium occurs in older people and how hospital illness can contribute to the chance of developing dementia in the future. This will provide information to select patients for future trials and help develop new treatments for delirium and dementia. Our proposal has been developed in collaboration with our ORCHARD PPI group comprising hospital patients, carers, a retired GP and Alzheimer’s Society members.
Who can take part in this study
We are recruiting patients aged 65 years or older who have an unplanned (emergency) hospital admission or who are seen on the ambulatory care unit (Same Day Emergency Care Unit) at Oxford University Hospitals and Royal Berkshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts.
Our experiences in recruiting older hospital patients to ORCHARD-PS was highlighted by the NIHR in a recent blog post: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/blog/how-weve-succeeded-recruiting-older-hospital-patients-our-trial
get in touch
We have currently completed recruitment but if you are looking to get in touch with the team, please email CPSD@ouh.nhs.uk or use the following phone numbers:
Oxford: 01865 231601
Reading: 0118 322 5474
