Objective: Understanding the beliefs and knowledge gaps regarding delirium among physicians is critical in order to improve care for the condition. The objectives of this study were to determine attitudes and level of knowledge regarding delirium among trainee physicians, and associated factors.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Trainee physicians at the Khon Kaen University Faculty of
Medicine were recruited and provided with questionnaires from October 1 and December 31, 2016. The questionnaires were developed to evaluate the trainees’ knowledge and attitudes. They were distributed to all participants and those that were completed were returned to the researchers.
Results: Of the 368 surveys distributed, 260(71%) were completed. The confusion assessment method(CAM) was used by the trainee physicians for detecting delirium in about one third (32.3%). About 40% of participants believed delirium was a normal process in hospitalized patients and 40% felt that they were skilled in delirium diagnosis. However, less than a third were confident in managing the condition. The median score on questions evaluating the participants’ knowledge of delirium was 60%. For the most part, they were knowledgeable regarding prevalence and risk factors of the condition(median score = 78.6%) They displayed poor knowledge regarding diagnosis (median score = 0%). Specialty training in internal medicine and psychiatry were the only factors associated with better scores with an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of 17.1 and 13.04, respectively.
Conclusion: Trainee physicians had limited knowledge and less awareness regarding delirium. Specialties in internal medicine and psychiatry were the significant factors associated with better scores on the knowledge evaluation.

Keywords: Acute confusion state, Education, Older people, Questionnaire, Survey