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Delirium in Elderly People: A Review
The present review aims to highlight this intricate syndrome, regarding diagnosis, pathophysiology, etiology, prevention, and management in elderly people. The diagnosis of delirium is based on clinical observations, cognitive assessment, physical, and neurological examination. Clinically, delirium...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Research Foundation
2012
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3377955/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22723791 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2012.00101 |
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author | Martins, Sónia Fernandes, Lia |
author_facet | Martins, Sónia Fernandes, Lia |
author_sort | Martins, Sónia |
collection | PubMed |
description | The present review aims to highlight this intricate syndrome, regarding diagnosis, pathophysiology, etiology, prevention, and management in elderly people. The diagnosis of delirium is based on clinical observations, cognitive assessment, physical, and neurological examination. Clinically, delirium occurs in hyperactive, hypoactive, or mixed forms, based on psychomotor behavior. As an acute confusional state, it is characterized by a rapid onset of symptoms, fluctuating course and an altered level of consciousness, global disturbance of cognition or perceptual abnormalities, and evidence of a physical cause. Although pathophysiological mechanisms of delirium remain unclear, current evidence suggests that disruption of neurotransmission, inflammation, or acute stress responses might all contribute to the development of this ailment. It usually occurs as a result of a complex interaction of multiple risk factors, such as cognitive impairment/dementia and current medical or surgical disorder. Despite all of the above, delirium is frequently under-recognized and often misdiagnosed by health professionals. In particular, this happens due to its fluctuating nature, its overlap with dementia and the scarcity of routine formal cognitive assessment in general hospitals. It is also associated with multiple adverse outcomes that have been well documented, such as increased hospital stay, function/cognitive decline, institutionalization and mortality. In this context, the early identification of delirium is essential. Timely and optimal management of people with delirium should be performed with identification of any possible underlying causes, dealing with a suitable care environment and improving education of health professionals. All these can be important factors, which contribute to a decrease in adverse outcomes associated with delirium. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3377955 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2012 |
publisher | Frontiers Research Foundation |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-33779552012-06-21 Delirium in Elderly People: A Review Martins, Sónia Fernandes, Lia Front Neurol Neuroscience The present review aims to highlight this intricate syndrome, regarding diagnosis, pathophysiology, etiology, prevention, and management in elderly people. The diagnosis of delirium is based on clinical observations, cognitive assessment, physical, and neurological examination. Clinically, delirium occurs in hyperactive, hypoactive, or mixed forms, based on psychomotor behavior. As an acute confusional state, it is characterized by a rapid onset of symptoms, fluctuating course and an altered level of consciousness, global disturbance of cognition or perceptual abnormalities, and evidence of a physical cause. Although pathophysiological mechanisms of delirium remain unclear, current evidence suggests that disruption of neurotransmission, inflammation, or acute stress responses might all contribute to the development of this ailment. It usually occurs as a result of a complex interaction of multiple risk factors, such as cognitive impairment/dementia and current medical or surgical disorder. Despite all of the above, delirium is frequently under-recognized and often misdiagnosed by health professionals. In particular, this happens due to its fluctuating nature, its overlap with dementia and the scarcity of routine formal cognitive assessment in general hospitals. It is also associated with multiple adverse outcomes that have been well documented, such as increased hospital stay, function/cognitive decline, institutionalization and mortality. In this context, the early identification of delirium is essential. Timely and optimal management of people with delirium should be performed with identification of any possible underlying causes, dealing with a suitable care environment and improving education of health professionals. All these can be important factors, which contribute to a decrease in adverse outcomes associated with delirium. Frontiers Research Foundation 2012-06-19 /pmc/articles/PMC3377955/ /pubmed/22723791 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2012.00101 Text en Copyright © 2012 Martins and Fernandes. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Neuroscience Martins, Sónia Fernandes, Lia Delirium in Elderly People: A Review |
title | Delirium in Elderly People: A Review |
title_full | Delirium in Elderly People: A Review |
title_fullStr | Delirium in Elderly People: A Review |
title_full_unstemmed | Delirium in Elderly People: A Review |
title_short | Delirium in Elderly People: A Review |
title_sort | delirium in elderly people: a review |
topic | Neuroscience |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3377955/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22723791 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2012.00101 |
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