Comparative effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions for preventing delirium in critically ill adults: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

Delirium presents a serious health problem in critically ill patients in intensive care units. However, knowledge regarding the selections of the optimal non-pharmacological interventions remains unclear. To compare the effects of non-pharmacological interventions by combining direct and indirect evidence on the incidence and duration of delirium in intensive care units. A systematic review and network meta-analysis. A comprehensive search of five electronic databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses A&I were conducted. Only randomized control trials published from the inception to December 28, 2021 were included. Two reviewers independently screened the title and abstract for eligibility according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The random-effect network meta-analysis was used to estimate the comparative effects of non-pharmacological interventions in reducing delirium incidence and duration. A total of 29 studies with 7005 critically ill patients were enrolled. Twenty-six and eleven studies reported the delirium incidence and duration, respectively. Component-based intervention comparison revealed that multicomponent strategy was the most effective non-pharmacological intervention compared to usual care in reducing incidence of ICU delirium (Odd ratio [OR]=0.43, 95% CI= 0.22–0.84) but not ICU delirium duration. Treatment-based intervention comparisons indicated that specific multi-treatment interventions significantly reduced the ICU delirium incidence and duration, particularly the involvement of early mobilization and family participation (OR = 0.12 with 95% CI = 0.02 to 0.83; mean difference = -1.34 with 95% CI = -2.52 to -0.16, respectively). Our study suggests that the multicomponent strategy was the most effective non-pharmacological intervention in reducing the incidence of ICU delirium. Early mobilization and family participation involvement in non-pharmacological interventions seemed to be more effective in reducing the incidence of ICU delirium. These results of network-meta analysis could be an important evidence-based for clinical healthcare providers to optimize the critical care protocol. Tweetable abstract: Network meta-analysis of 29 randomised controlled trials with 7005 patients finds that multicomponent interventions, particularly those involving early mobilization, family participation, cognitive stimulation, reorientation, sensory stimulation, environment control and clinical adjustment, is the most effective non-pharmacological strategy to reduce the incidence of delirium in intensive care units.