Delirium screening in the emergency department: evaluation and intervention.

This study underscores that a significant majority of older adult delirium cases remain undetected by ED staff. Despite efforts to increase awareness, the rate of diagnosis did not significantly improve. While the presence of dedicated delirium evaluators slightly increased the diagnosis rate among patients assessed by ED staff, this rate reverted to pre-intervention levels after the evaluators left. These findings emphasize the necessity of implementing mandatory delirium screening during ED triage and throughout the patient's stay.