Knowra Delirium Delirium Delirium is an acute disturbance of attention and awareness, usually developing over hours or days and often fluctuating. It arises from illness, medication, substance effects, or other physiological causes.
Attention : The selection and maintenance of information for focused mental processing. Delirium prominently disrupts the ability to direct and sustain attention.
Confusion Assessment Method : A clinical instrument that identifies delirium through acute change, inattention, disorganized thinking, and altered consciousness. It provides a widely used structured approach to detecting delirium.
Dementia : A syndrome of acquired cognitive decline that interferes with independence in everyday activities. Dementia usually progresses over months or years, whereas delirium begins acutely and fluctuates.
Acute brain dysfunction : A sudden disturbance in brain function caused by illness, injury, or physiological disruption. Delirium is a common clinical expression of acute brain dysfunction.
Falls in older adults : Unintentional descents to the ground among older people, often resulting from interacting health and environmental risks. Impaired attention and fluctuating awareness can increase the risk of falls during delirium.
Arousal : The level of wakefulness and responsiveness maintained by the brain. Changes in arousal help explain delirium’s shifts between alertness and reduced responsiveness.
4AT : A brief clinical screening instrument for delirium that assesses alertness, cognition, attention, and acute change. Its rapid bedside assessment supports delirium screening in hospitals and emergency settings.
Psychosis : A state involving impaired reality testing, often with delusions or hallucinations. Psychosis can include hallucinations, but delirium is defined by acute inattention and altered awareness.
Inattention : Difficulty directing, sustaining, or shifting attention appropriately. Inattention is a core feature that separates delirium from many other causes of confusion.
Functional decline : A loss of ability to perform everyday activities independently. Delirium can interrupt mobility and self-care, contributing to loss of independence after hospitalization.
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