ICU sedation, delirium & recovery
Disparities in Finding Delirium in Critically Ill Latinos
Authors' conclusion
Usual-Care demonstrated poor accuracy in delirium detection among Spanish-speakers, who also experienced deeper sedation and more frequent restraint use than English-speakers. FAM-CAM improved delirium detection among Spanish-speakers
Study context
- Population
- ICU patients and caregivers in two MICUs, University of California, San Diego, August 2024 to January 2025plus 100 caregivers
- Participants
- 142 patients
- Exposure
- English-speakers vs Spanish-speakers
- English-speakersn = 71reference
- Spanish-speakersn = 71
- Outcome
- Agreement Usual-Care vs Reference-standard (κ)
Methodological detailstwo MICUs, single institution
- Two MICUs
- Single institution
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
z
−4.98
P < 0.01
By group
English-speakers
0.71
κ
Spanish-speakers
0.11
κ
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Delirium prevalence
Mean
| Outcome | English-speakers | Spanish-speakers | Mean difference (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sedation depth (RASS) | −0.77 (SD 1.31) | −1.46 (SD 1.38) | 0.69 (0.24–1.14) | P < 0.01 | |
| −0.500.511.5Difference (linear scale) |
| Outcome | OR (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restraint use | 4.53 (1.91–10.74) | P < 0.01 | |
| 0.050.21520Odds ratio (log scale) |
| Outcome | Z | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Agreement with Reference-standard among Spanish-speakers: FAM-CAM vs Usual-Care (κ) (subgroup)κ=0.68 vs. κ=0.11 | −4.69 | P < 0.05 |
- Delirium prevalence — Overall prevalence
- 39%
- Agreement with Reference-standard among Spanish-speakers: FAM-CAM vs Usual-Care (κ) (subgroup) — FAM-CAM reduced rate of missed delirium
- 47%
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
Disparities in Finding Delirium in Critically Ill Latinos. Crit Care Med. Published 15 April 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →