The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) is the largest non-profit medical organization dedicated to promoting excellence and consistency in the practice of critical care. With members in more than 100 countries, SCCM is the only organization that represents all professional components of the critical care team. The Society offers a variety of activities that ensures excellence in patient care, education, research and advocacy.

John Hopkins Medicine: Almost one in three people discharged from hospital intensive care units has clinically important and persistent symptoms of depression, a so-called meta-analysis of reports on more than 4,000 patients suggests. In some patients, the symptoms can last for a year or more, and they are notably more likely in people with a history of psychological distress before an ICU stay, the investigators say.

Delirium occurs frequently in critically ill patients and has been associated with both short-term and long-term consequences. Efforts to decrease delirium prevalence have been directed at identifying and modifying its risk factors. One potentially modifiable risk factor is sleep deprivation. Critically ill patients are known to experience poor sleep quality with severe sleep fragmentation and disruption of sleep architecture. Poor sleep while in the intensive care unit is one of the most common complaints of patients who survive critical illness. The relationship between delirium and sleep deprivation remains controversial. However, studies have demonstrated many similarities between the clinical and physiologic profiles of patients with delirium and sleep deprivation. This article
aims to review the literature, the clinical and neurobiologic consequences of sleep deprivation, and the potential relationship between sleep deprivation and delirium in intensive care unit patients. Sleep deprivation may prove to be a modifiable risk factor for the development of delirium with important implications for the acute and long-term outcome of critically ill patients.