Symptoms of delirium among elderly medical inpatients with or without dementia

This study examined the frequencies of the 10 symptoms of delirium identified in DSM-III-R among patients with delirium (DSM-III-R criteria) who did or did not have dementia. The prevalence of each symptom, the numbers of symptoms, mid the combinations of symptoms were determined among 322 elderly medical bipatients classified into one of four groups: delirium mid dementia (n = 128), delirium only (n = 40), dementia only (n = 94), or neither (n = 60). Symptoms were assessed at the time of diagnosis mid independently (by use of a different scale) within 24 hours of diagnosis. Delirium appeared to be phenomenologically similar among patients with mid those without dementia, although patients with dementia had more psychomotor agitation at the time of diagnosis mid more disorganized thinking mid disorientation at the second assessment.