Brief Overview of Delirium Flashcards
Onset, course, duration, awareness, alertness, attention, orientation, working memory, episodic memory, thinking, perception, speech
Delirium is…?
An acute, reversible, metabolically induced state of fluctuating consciousness involving rapid changes in consciousness and orientation
Delirium - brief overview?
abrupt onset of marked attentional abnormalities; disorders of perception, thinking and memory, psychomotor activity and the sleep-wakefulness cycles; fluctuations in cognitive performance and behaviour
Onset:
acute, often at night
course:
fluctuating, with lucid intervals during the day; worsens at night
duration:
hours to weeks
awareness:
reduced
attention:
impaired - distractibility. Fluctuates over course of the day.
orientation:
impaired for a time; tendency to mistake unfamiliar places and persons
working memory:
always impaired
episodic memory:
impaired
thinking:
disorganised, delusional
perception:
illusions and hallucinations, usually visual and common
speech:
incoherent, hesitant, rapid or slow
