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Delirium (formerly acute confusional state, an ambiguous term that is now discouraged) [1] is a specific state of acute confusion attributable to the direct physiological consequence of a medical condition, effects of a psychoactive substance, or multiple causes, which usually develops over the course of hours to days.
The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) is a questionnaire that can be filled out by a relative or other supporter of an older person to determine whether that person has declined in cognitive functioning. The IQCODE is used as a screening test for dementia. If the person is found to have significant cognitive ...
POCD is common in adult patients of all ages at hospital discharge after major noncardiac surgery, but only the elderly (aged 60 years or older) are at significant risk for long-term cognitive problems. Patients with POCD are at an increased risk of death in the first year after surgery. [9]
It is also a diagnosis which can be acquired during hospital stays, typically by elderly patients or those with risk factors of delirium. While it is a common diagnosis, delirium can increase the risk of a longer hospital stay and the risk of complications throughout the hospital stay. [9] [10]
Dementia and delirium are the cause of the confusion, orientation, cognition or alertness impairment. [11] Therefore, these symptoms require more attention because hallucinations, delusions, amnesia, and personality changes are the result. These effects of the dementia and delirium are not joined with the changes of sensory or perception abilities.
determine dementia in the elderly The Abbreviated Mental Test score ( AMTS ) is a 10-point test for rapidly assessing elderly patients for the possibility of dementia . It was first used in 1972, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] and is now sometimes also used to assess for mental confusion (including delirium ) and other cognitive impairments .
Geriatric psychiatry, also known as geropsychiatry, psychogeriatrics or psychiatry of old age, is a branch of medicine and a subspecialty of psychiatry dealing with the study, prevention, and treatment of neurodegenerative, cognitive impairment, and mental disorders in people of old age.
In hospitals, the elderly face the very real problem of ageism. For example, doctors and nurses often mistake symptoms of delirium for normal elderly behavior. Delirium is a condition that has hyperactive and hypoactive stages. In the hypoactive stages, elderly patients can just seem like they are sleeping or irritable. [15]