ICU sedation, delirium & recovery
A systematic meta-review of interventions to prevent and manage delirium in the Intensive Care Unit: Part 2 – Non-pharmacological and multicomponent interventions
An erratum to this article was published (Crit Care, 11 Feb 2026 ↗)
Authors' conclusion
While some non-pharmacological interventions (multi-component care packages, early mobilization and family-based interventions) show potential to reduce delirium occurrence and duration, multicomponent strategies, particularly those including early mobilization and family participation, appear more effective.
Study context
- Population
- Critically ill adults in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) settings32 reviews · 335 studies
- Comparison
- Non-pharmacological and multicomponent interventions to prevent and manage ICU delirium
- Outcome
- Delirium occurrence
Methodological detailscomprehensive search across eight databases, quality assessment of reviews, 16 non-pharmacological interventions assessed
- Comprehensive search across eight databases
- Quality assessment of reviews
- 16 non-pharmacological interventions assessed
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Delirium incidence and duration
- ABCDEF bundle, other multicomponent non-pharmacological interventions and early mobilization significantly reduced delirium incidence and duration
- Family participation in care reported to reduce delirium incidence
- Evidence inconsistent and often of low quality
Further pooled results
- Mortality benefits reported in studies of multicomponent non-pharmacological interventions
Original publication
A systematic meta-review of interventions to prevent and manage delirium in the Intensive Care Unit: Part 2 – Non-pharmacological and multicomponent interventions. Crit Care. Published 21 November 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →