Using EEG to understand and identify delirium in inpatients with Parkinson’s disease

Principal Investigator: Dr Rachael Lawson

Research has shown that people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are at increased risk of delirium. Delirium is an acute neuropsychiatric syndrome associated with altered levels of consciousness, confusion and impaired attention and is associated with significant multimorbidity including falls, cognitive decline and mortality. Delirium in people with PD is poorly understood and the mechanisms underlying delirium are unclear, as this is a significantly under researched area.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a widely available clinical test in the NHS. Whilst an abnormal EEG, dominated by low frequency activity (slowing), is recognised in delirium, patients with PD or dementia are generally excluded from such studies. This study will use novel methods for recruiting and assessing patients with PD and delirium and advanced EEG analytic approaches, to address these limitations. This will ultimately lead to improved patient stratification and determining relevant clinical endpoints to support future trials to treat or prevent delirium.