Background: Delirium is a frequent event affecting intensive care unit (ICU) patients is a leading cause longer ICU stays and may compromise outcomes.
Objectives: Evaluation of the ability of the triglyceride/glucose (TyG) index estimated at ICU admission to differentiate patients vulnerable to develop delirium, morbidities and/or mortality.
Patients and methods: A Prospective observational non-randomized multicenter comparative study conducted on 300 ICU patients who were evaluated for disease severity status, the presence of risk factors for delirium using the Delirium Rating Scale-R-98 (DRS-R-98). Blood samples were obtained for estimation of blood glucose and plasma triglyceride levels to calculate the TyG index. During ICU stay, organ functions were evaluated using the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score and its deterioration was expressed as ΔSOFA, which equal 72-h minus 24-h scores, the development of new morbidities, mortality rate (MR), and development and severity of delirium among survivors were determined. 
Results: The frequencies of new morbidities, SOFA score deterioration and mortality were 21%, 16.7% and 11%, respectively. High TyG index and ΔSOFA showed highly significant (P<0.001) predictive ability for new morbidities and MR. Medical ICU (MICU) patients were more vulnerable to develop delirium than surgical ICU. Statistical analyses defined high TyG index and ΔSOFA as the highly significant (P<0.001) predictors for oncoming delirium.
Conclusion: Delirium is common especially among MICU patients. High at-admission TyG index is a significant predictor for ICU outcomes and might identify patients vulnerable to develop delirium. High ΔSOFA might predict the morbidity and mortality rates but was less significant predictor for delirium.