Depression and Risk of Delirium in Older Adults: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using German Primary Care Data.

Authors

Christina Ryngler, Jens Bohlken, Nguyen Tien Huy, Karel Kostev

Published in

Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland). Volume 11. Issue 5. Sep 08, 2026. Epub Sep 08, 2026.

Abstract

Background: Depression and delirium are common neuropsychiatric disorders in older adults. Although studies suggest an association between the two conditions, evidence regarding the long-term risk of delirium in older patients with depression in outpatient primary care remains limited. Objective: This study examined the relationship between depression and delirium in individuals aged ≥65 years. Methods: This retrospective cohort study used data from the German IQVIA Disease Analyzer database. It included individuals aged ≥65 years who received their first diagnosis of depression between 2005 and 2023. Using propensity score matching, patients with depression were matched 1:1 with individuals without depression. The primary outcome was incident delirium (ICD-10: F05). Time-dependent Cox regression models were applied for up to ten years of follow-up. Results: After matching, the study population consisted of 203,888 individuals (mean age: 75.8 years; 66% female). The incidence of delirium was higher in patients with depression than in controls (2.0% vs. 1.3%). Depression was associated with an elevated risk of delirium within the first two years after diagnosis (HR 1.42; 95% CI 1.14-1.75) and between six and ten years (HR 1.48; 95% CI 1.05-2.11). No statistically significant association was observed between years 3 and 5. Incident dementia was also associated with delirium (HR 1.52; 95% CI 1.14-2.02). Conclusions: Among older adults receiving outpatient care, depression was associated with a higher rate of subsequently documented delirium. These results complement existing evidence from inpatient settings. Due to the observational nature of the study, causal inferences cannot be made. In a sensitivity analysis excluding individuals with dementia at baseline, the association remained statistically significant across all intervals (HR 1.74, 1.53, and 1.82 for 0-2, 3-5, and 6-10 years, respectively).

PMID:
42776716
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.