Delirium Tremens in Psychiatric Ward at Songklanagarind Hospital

• Main Authors: Teerapat Teetharatkul, Arnont Vittayanont
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Prince of Songkla University 2018-08-01
• Series: Journal of Health Science and Medical Research (JHSMR)
• Subjects: alcohol; delirium tremens; red blood cell; withdrawal syndrome
• Online Access: https://www.jhsmr.org/index.php/jhsmr/article/view/17
• ISSN: 2586-9981; 2630-0559

Objectives: To examine the epidemiology of delirium tremens patients in the psychiatric ward at Songklanagarind Hospital and to find factors associated with the disease. Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that collected data from alcohol dependent patients who were admitted in the psychiatric ward at Songklanagarind Hospital between January 2011 and December 2014. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data and logistic regression analysis used to analyze factors associated with the disease. Results: The prevalence of delirium tremens in psychiatric ward was 28.0%. The study found that body temperature >37.8 °C (p-value=0.026), eosinophils >6.0% (p-value=0.046), hematocrit <40.0% (p-value<0.001), red blood cells <4.5x106/ul (p-value<0.001), MCV <83 or >97 g/dl (p-value<0.001), MCH <27 or >33 pg (p-value<0.001), platelets <150x103/ul (p-value<0.001), magnesium <16 mg/dl (p-value=0.043), zinc <0.7 mg/dl) (p-value=0.029), total bilirubin >1 mg/dl (p-value= 0.039) and direct bilirubin >0.2 mg/dl (p-value=0.036) were significant factors correlated with delirium tremens. Multiple logistic regression models found that only red blood cell count <4.5x106/ul (p-value<0.001) was a significant factor correlated with delirium tremens. Conclusions: The prevalence of delirium tremens in this study was lower than in other Asian countries. Red blood cell count <4.5x106/ul (p-value<0.001) was correlated with delirium tremens.