• PSD prevalence [ Time Frame: three times daily for 7 days ]
  DSM-5 criteria and chart review are used to assess the occurence of PSD among included patients over the complete study period
• pre-stroke modified Rankin Scale [ Time Frame: once on admission ]
  functional status before stroke
• pre-stroke Barthel Index [ Time Frame: once on admission ]
  ability to take care of personal daily routine before stroke
• pre-stroke Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) [ Time Frame: once on admission ]
  cognitive impairment before stroke
• pre-stroke Groningen Frailty Index (GFI) [ Time Frame: once on admission ]
  presence of a frailty syndrome before stroke
• National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) [ Time Frame: three times daily for three days starting on the day of admission ]
  estimate of clinical stroke severity
• Critical Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) [ Time Frame: once daily for three days starting on the day of admission ]
  pain during stroke unit treatment
• Stroke location - clinical (classification of the OxfordshireCommunity Stroke Project (OCSP)) [ Time Frame: once on admission ]
  clinical characterisation based on phenotype as either total anterior, partial anterior, partial posterior or lacunar stroke
• Stroke location - imaging (based on an atlas of anatomical regions of the human brain (aal MNI V4)) [ Time Frame: once on admission ]
  in patients with imaging of the definite stroke location, differences of mean locations between groups will be calculated

• demographic data [ Time Frame: once on admission ]
  exploratory outcome required to adjust for confounding variates such as age, socioeconomic status and education
• complications during stroke unit treatment [ Time Frame: continuously during the study period and up to 7 days ]
  any complication that arises during the study period (e.g. pneumonia, dysphagia)

For a long time, delirium was considered a merely temporary dysfunction of the brain. Today, it is established that it is a brain disease associated with network dysfunction, neuroinflammation and impaired transmitter homeostasis in a multicausal model. Following an episode of delirium, many patients do not return to their prior level of cognitive and functional performance. In particular, failed or delayed diagnosis with consecutive inadequate therapy contribute to the development of long-term cognitive decline that may ultimately lead to long-term care. Stroke patients are a particularly common delirium-affected population (10-46% depending on severity). Despite the frequency and clinical relevance of delirium in stroke patients, diagnostic characteristics of common screening methods are unknown. Similarly, the clinical phenotype and risk factors of patients who develop delirium have not been adequately described.

This study primarily aims to evaluate the diagnostic properties of established screening tools for delirium in a prospective cohort of well-characterised patients following ischemic cerebral events (either transient or manifest stroke). Secondary outcome criteria include predictors of post-stroke delirium (PSD) such as stroke location and size, pre-stroke cognitive functioning, ability to participate in daily routine activities and medical conditions.

• Delirium
• Ischemic Stroke
• Transient Ischemic Attack

• PSD
  Patients fulfilling DSM-5 criteria of PSD within 7 days of admission.
  Intervention: Diagnostic Test: Stroke screening tools
• No PSD
  Patients NOT fulfilling DSM-5 criteria of PSD within 7 days of admission.
  Intervention: Diagnostic Test: Stroke screening tools

Inclusion Criteria:

• stroke unit admission for a high-risk transient ischemic attack (ABCD2 score >= 6) or stroke within the last 24 hours

Exclusion Criteria:

• hemorrhagic stroke