Effects on hippocampal activity following novel 5-HT4 receptor agonism in unmedicated patients with depression: the RESTAND study.

Delirium is a clinical syndrome characterized by acute, fluctuating disturbances in attention and awareness, often accompanied by changes in level of consciousness. Delirium affects approximately one in four hospitalized adults and is associated with serious adverse health impacts, including accelerated cognitive decline. Prior work suggests the public is unfamiliar with and has important misconceptions about delirium, which could contribute to under-recognition and mismanagement. These misconceptions may be influenced by wide-reaching media, including popular television (TV) shows. We aimed to characterize portrayals of delirium in medical TV dramas. We performed a descriptive content analysis of the most recent, complete seasons of 6 medical TV dramas airing between 2022–2025 (). After pilot testing a structured abstraction guide and reaching high inter-rater reliability between two abstractors (kappa > 0.8) for the initial 5 episodes, data from remaining episodes were independently abstracted. Attending physicians with delirium expertise arbitrated uncertain assessments. This project was considered non-human subjects research by the University of Wisconsin-Madison institutional review board. For each patient appearing on screen for ≥ 10 seconds, we assessed depicted level of consciousness using the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS), which is 64% sensitive and 93% specific for delirium when abnormal. For patients with fluctuating levels of consciousness, we recorded each RASS score as a unique observation. We categorized patient’s depicted age (Pediatric: <18, Younger adult: 18–64, Older adult: ≥65) and noted if they had additional symptoms of delirium (e.g., inattention, acute cognitive changes). We also recorded instances of the clinical team using the term delirium.