Prevalence of Delirium with Urinary Tract Infections in Elderly Patients vs Younger Adults

The Prevalence of Delirium with Urinary Tract Infections in Elderly Patients versus Younger Adults
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The Prevalence of Delirium with Urinary Tract Infections in Elderly Patients versus Younger Adult Patients
Research Problem
The theme of this research is to determine the reasons behind the prevalence of delirium among elderly patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) over younger adults with UTIs. Before stating the research problem, it is imperative to define the participant’s characteristics. Here, Bum Lee et al. (2018) define elderly patients (geriatrics) within three categories; youngest-old, middle-old, and oldest-old. The youngest-old category is classified among people aged 65-74, the middle-old being 75-84, and the oldest-old as those over 85 years of age. Current estimations state that by 2026, the current post-World War II baby boomers will be aged 80 years and over, where the elderly population will account for more than 20% of the population. Younger adults, on the other hand, are defined as individuals aged 18-26 years who experience the most formative body development and are at their peak health (Bum Lee et al., 2018). Therefore, by understanding the two subsets, one may make relevant inferences regarding delirium with UTIs.
           The research problem is to determine the reasons behind the prevalence of delirium in elderly patients with urinary tract infections versus younger adult patients. Mayne et al. (2019) state that the confusion often used to define delirium occurs more commonly among patients with urinary tract infections, mostly in nursing home settings. The implications of using delirium or confusion as a sign of UTIs in nursing home settings may lead to negative health outcomes such as overdiagnosis of an underlying issue and inappropriate antimicrobial use (Mayne et al., 2019). According to Dutta et al. (2022), UTIs among the elderly population manifests as delirium more commonly due to age-related risk factors, making it hard to diagnose than among the younger population. Kuswardhani and Sugi (2017) also agree that infection among the geriatric population is mostly manifested as confusion rather than fever and inflammation, as in other younger patients. Therefore, this shows the importance of determining the prevalence of delirium among elderly patients with UTIs, as it may prevent overdiagnoses and improper use of antibiotics. 
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