Use of “Months of the Year Backwards” (MOTYB) as a Screening Tool for Delirium in Palliative Care Patients in the Acute Hospital Setting.

Introduction Delirium is common in palliative care. It effects up to 88% of patients with advanced cancer at end of life and has a point prevalence of 20% in the acute hospital setting across all diagnoses. It is under diagnosed and not optimally treated. “Months of the Year Backwards” (MOTYB) is an ideal screening tool for delirium with a sensitivity of 83.8%. It is brief to perform and carries low burden for patients. The aim of this study is to investigate the use of MOTYB as a screening tool for delirium in palliative care patients in the acute hospital setting. Methods All patients who were referred to the hospital palliative care team in September 2016 were screened. Results Forty five patients were screened using MOTYB. Fifteen patients (33%) screened positive for delirium. Conclusion MOTYB is a simple screening tool that was easily integrated into practice in a hospital service. It has the potential to identify missed cases of delirium and therefore improve management and ultimately patient outcomes.