OUTCOME OF DELIRIUM: PART 2. Clinical Features of Reversible Cognitive Dysfunction — Are They the Same as Accepted Definitions of Delirium?
✍ Scribed by ADRIAN J. TRELOAR; A. J. D. MACDONALD
- Book ID
- 101287909
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 110 KB
- Volume
- 12
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6230
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✦ Synopsis
Objective. To describe the clinical features of reversible cognitive dysfunction. Design. Prospective cohort study. Setting. Acute geriatric inpatient units. Patients. A random sample of consecutive acute admissions of patients over the age of 65 N 80. Main measurements. Serial assessments of mental state and cognitive function and observational data. Outcome measure. Patients with more than ®ve points or 20% improvement in Mini Mental State Examination following the most severely impaired assessment operationally designated `reversible cognitive dysfunction'. The clinical features of those with RCD are compared with those with non-reversible cognitive dysfunction.
Main results. Delusions, hallucinations, aggression, excitement, irritability and other active' symptoms were not commoner in RCD than in non-reversible cognitive dysfunction (non-RCD). By contrast, quiet' signs, such as plucking at bedclothes, poor attention, incoherent speech, abnormal associations, slow, vague thought and ¯uctuating mental state were more marked in RCD than in non-RCD.
Conclusions. Reversible cognitive dysfunction is a quiet and unobtrusive disorder.