Certain leisure activities may reduce post-surgical delirium among older adults

Older adults who engage in leisure activities more than 20 times a week are far less likely to experience delirium following certain types of surgery than those who engage in fewer weekly leisure activities, new research suggests. Each additional day of participation in a leisure activity reduced post-operative delirium by 8 percent, researchers found at the end of a new study. According to the researchers, maintaining leisure activities later in life could be an important way to lessen the chances of developing delirium following surgery.