Differentiating Delirium and Dementia

Differentiating Delirium and Dementia
Factor	Delirium	Dementia
Onset	Sudden	Gradual
Duration	Brief (hours–days)	Long (months–years)
LOC	Fluctuates throughout day	Unaffected
Motor	Tremor, myoclonus, ataxia, hyperactivity	None until late
Speech	Incoherent	Normal to aphasic in later stages
Language	Vocabulary usual for Pt, but frequent use of wrong words	Impoverished, worsens as disorder progresses
Memory	Impaired	Impaired
Attention	Impaired, fluctuates	Normal to easily distracted
Perception	Hallucinations common	Hallucinations uncommon
Mood	Fearful, suspicious, irritable	Fearful, suspicious, irritable, normal affect, depressed early in disorder
Sleep	Disturbances common	Disturbances common
General condition	Pts look sick	Pts look healthy
Clinical course	Fluctuates over short term	Stable over short term