2. a mental state characterized by disorientation
regarding time, place, person, or situation. It
causes bewilderment, perplexity, lack of
orderly thought, and inability to choose or act
decisively and perform the activities of daily
living
4. Dementia – some causes treatable
Delirium – usually treatable and often the
first symptom of serious underlying
condition
Depression – often responds well to
treatment
All benefit from adaptations to care
5. The development of multiple cognitive deficits manifested by:
A. Two or more of the following cognitive disturbances:
(a) aphasia (language disturbance)
(b) apraxia (impaired ability to carry out motor activities depite intact motor function)
(c) agnosia (failure to recognize or identify objects despite intact sensory function)
(d) disturbance in executive functioning (i.e., planning, organizing, sequencing, abstracting)
(e) memory impairment (impaired ability to learn new information or to recall previously
learned information)
B. The cognitive deficits in criteria A each cause significant impairment in social or occupational functioning and
represent a significant decline from a previous level of functioning.
C. The course is characterized by gradual onset and continuing cognitive decline
6. Alzheimer’s Disease - 30% to 50%
Vascular Dementia - 20% (but 50% of cases in
hospital)
Lewy Body Dementia – 10% to 30%
Frontal Lobe Dementia – 5%
Other causes - <5%
7. Attention
Concentration
Orientation
Short term memory
Long term memory
Praxis
Language
Executive function
8.
9. Delirium is a syndrome, or group of
symptoms, caused by a disturbance in the
normal functioning of the brain. The delirious
patient has a reduced awareness of and
responsiveness to the environment, which
may be manifested as disorientation,
incoherence, and memory disturbance.
Delirium is often marked by hallucinations,
delusions, and a dream-like state.
10. CONFUSION ASSESSMENT METHOD (CAM) SHORTENED VERSION WORKSHEET
I. ACUTE ONSET AND FLUCTUATING COURSE BOX 1
a) Is there evidence of an acute change in mental status from the patient’s baseline? No ____ Yes___
b) Did the (abnormal) behaviour fluctuate during the day, that is tend to come and go or increase and
decrease in severity? No ____ Yes___
II. INATTENTION
Did the patient have difficulty focusing attention, for example, being easily distractible or having difficulty
keeping track of what was being said? No ____ Yes___
________________________________________________________________________
III. DISORGANIZED THINKING BOX 2
Was the patient ‘s thinking disorganized or incoherent, such as rambling or irrelevant conversation, unclear
or illogical flow of ideas, or unpredictable switching from subject to subject? No ____ Yes____
IV. ALTERED LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Overall, how would you rate the patient’s level of consciousness?
Alert (normal) or
___ Vigilant (hyperalert)
___ Lethargic (drowsy, easily aroused)
___ Stupor (difficult to arouse)
___ Coma (unarousable)
Do any checks appear? (any level of consciousness other than ‘normal’) No ____ Yes ___
________________________________________________________________________
If all ‘Yes’s’ in Box 1 are checked and at least one ‘Yes’ in Box 2 is checked a diagnosis of delirium is suggested.
12. Three types of delirium;
Hyperactive:
Agitated, calling out, restless, wandering
Least common, most frequently diagnosed
Increased risk of falls and injury
Hypoactive:
Lethargic, slow to answer questions
Most common, most dangerous, least recognised
Increased pressure ulcer risk and aspirational pneumonia
Mixed: combination of the above
13. Increased morbidity
Increased mortality
Increased falls
Higher length of stay
Decreased likelihood of return home
Eight fold increase of new diagnosis of
dementia
Longer the delirium remains untreated the
greater all of the above risks
14. CHARACTERISTI
CS
DEMENTIA DELIRIUM DEPRESSION
Onset Insidious, slow and often
unrecognized
Sudden, abrupt Recent, may correspond
with life change
Course over 24
hours
Fairly stable, may see
changes due to stresses
Fluctuating, often with
nighttime exacerbations
Fairly stable, may be
worse in the morning
Consciousness Clear Reduced Clear
Alertness Normal Increased, decreased or
variable
Normal
Psychomotor
activity
Normal but may have
apraxia
Increased, decreased,
mixed
Variable, agitation or
retardation
Duration Months to years Hours to weeks Variable (at least 6
weeks) may be months to
years
Attention Generally normal Globally disordered,
fluctuates
Little impairment, very
distractible
Orientation Often impaired (answer
may be close to right)
Usually impaired,
variable, fluctuates
Usually normal, may
answer “don’t know”
Speech Difficulty word finding,
preseveration
Often incoherent, slow
or rapid
May be slow
15. Right place, right time, right approach
History is essential (recent and longer term)
Confusion isn’t restricted to a single cause, at
least 5 out of 6 patients with delirium will
already have dementia
Communication difficulties will need serious
consideration
Be aware of impact of identifying a problem
Refer (RAID)
16. Alzheimer’s Society –
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents.php?categoryID=200
293
Other cognitive assessments;
Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Assessment -
http://www.stvincents.ie/dynamic/File/Addenbrookes_A_SVUH_MedEl_tool.p
df
6 Item Cognitive Test –
http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/six-item-cognitive-impairment-test-6cit
MMSE –
http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/our-services/acute-
medicine-gi-surgery/elderly-care/mini-mental-state-evaluation.pdf
17. Confusion Assessment Method training manual -
http://www.viha.ca/NR/rdonlyres/0AC07A64-FF24-41E3-BDC5-
41CFE4E44F33/0/cam_training_pkg.pdf
European Delirium association –
http://www.europeandeliriumassociation.com/
18. Differential diagnosis – dementia and depression;
http://www.cmglinks.com/cmg/lectures_dementia/part1/006.htm
Depression in older adults (RCP);
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinformation/mentalhealthproblems/depression/depressioninol
deradults.aspx
Depression rating scales;
Geriatric Depression Scale –
http://www.chcr.brown.edu/GDS_SHORT_FORM.PDF
Cornell Scale For Depression In Dementia –
http://geropsychiatriceducation.vch.ca/docs/edu-downloads/depression/cornell_scale_depression.pdf