delirium vs. dementia
Last reviewed 08/2023
- mode of onset: acute or subacute (Del); chronic or subacute (Dem)
- poor attention: characteristic (Del); late event (Dem)
- conscious level: often affected - may be wild fluctuations (Del); normal (Dem)
- hallucinations and misinterpretations: common (Del); late events (Dem)
- fear, agitation and aggression: common (Del); not common in the early stages (Dem)
- totally disorganised thought with palpably unreal ideas: common - often flight of ideas (Del); late feature - usually poverty of thought (Dem)
- motor signs: postural tremor, myoclonus, asterixis (Del); none, or late feature (Dem)
- speech: slurred (Del); normal (Dem)
- dysphasia: none (Del); often present (Dem)
- dysgraphia: often prominent (Del); if present, in keeping with degree of dementia (Dem)
- short and long term memomy: poor (Del); often normal until late (Dem)
Key: Del = delirium; Dem = dementia