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	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In a recent article, Lawlor et al¹ reported a prospective study of delirium in patients with advanced cancer who were referred to an acute palliative care unit. They found terminal delirium in 46 of 52 patients who died in the hospital and poorer survival rates for delirium patients compared with controls.

We studied the occurrence of delirium in a sample of 60 older terminally ill patients admitted to the Hospice Care Unit of the Ancelle della Carità Hospital, Cremona, Italy. The overall mean ± SD age was 73.6 ± 8.3 years, and 28 (47%) were women. On admission, the mean ± SD number of symptoms was 6.2 ± 2.0, the most common symptoms being anorexia (88%), pain (64%), depression (56%), and urinary incontinence (54%). The mean ± SD Karnofsky index score at admission was 36.9 ± 12.9. Patients were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination within 2 days of admission, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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