Australian researchers have developed a world-first app to test for delirium in hospital patients in a bid to avoid a misdiagnosis of dementia.
Delirium is a serious disturbance in mental abilities that results in an acute state of confused thinking.
The condition can occur at any age but disproportionately affects people older than 65.
Professor John Fraser, director of critical care at the Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, says delirium is brain failure.
"People will start with normal brain function and have an acute deterioration," he said.
This deterioration is caused by a physiological reason such as drugs, infection, lack of sleep or pain.
While reversible, delirium places a huge burden on the health system and if not diagnosed properly could have a devastating impact on the patient and their families, Prof Fraser said.
"This is a really important condition. Up to 60 or 80 per cent of people that come into intensive care have this condition and we're really not very good at all at diagnosing it," he said.
"Delirium is a condition that is associated with increased length of stay and increased mortality. It's psychologically bad for the patient, its financially bad for the hospital, it's horrible for the relatives."
Researchers led by Prof Fraser have developed an app to help diagnose of delirium at hospitals.
"In intensive care we are good at dealing with the body and not the mind and we felt that we needed a measure to determine when people had delirium," Prof Fraser told AAP.
Prof Fraser says the "language free" app - funded by medical charity The Common Good - tests patients' knowledge, awareness and attention.
"This is a really good screening test that's very easy to use by the patient, very easy to use by the clinical staff at the bedside," he said.
Trials have proven the app to be effective so far, Prof Fraser said.
"On the pilot studies already we've got around 94 per cent sensitivity, which is way above anything else," Prof Fraser told.
The plan is to give the app away to hospitals and all the data processed will be used for future research.
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