Delirium is an acute confusion of consciousness and a process of fluctuating symptoms. Symptoms such as lack of organized thinking, day and night reversal, disorientation, and inability to concentrate may occur.
Delirium can be reduced by taking adequate nutrition, engaging in self-care activities, using glasses and hearing aids to facilitate communication, using clocks and calendars to increase orientation, keeping curtains open during the day and encouraging getting out of bed.
Delirium, also known as an acute confussional state, is a clinical syndrome that usually develops in the elderly. It can occur suddenly and changes quickly, and most of them are related to internal medicine diseases. The treatment method should be based on prevention. Regular cognitive evaluation should be practiced in order to facilitate early detection and early intervention of delirium in older patients. Sometimes, delirium may lead to long-term cognitive impairment. Therefore, understanding how to prevent and manage delirium is essential for improving the quality of life in older persons.
A. What is delirium?
Delirium is characterized by an acute fluctuating impairment of cognitive functions and inattention.
(Photographed by AI)
B.What are the symptoms of delirium?
Clinical feature is disorganized thinking, manifested by incoherent speech and rambling or irrelevant conversation, or unclear or illogical flow of ideas.
(Photographed by AI)
Sleep-wake cycle disturbance, characterized by an excessive daytime sleepiness with insomnia at night, fragmentation, and reduction of sleep or complete sleep-cycle reversal.
(Photographed by AI)
Disorientation is usually common, first in reference to time and then to place.
(Photographed by AI)
Emotional disturbances, such as anxiety, fear, irritability, anger, depression, and indifference, may also be seen.
(Photographed by AI)
Patients show features such as hyper-vigilance, restlessness, agitation, aggression, mood lability, and in some cases, hallucinations and delusions.
(Photographed by AI)
Usually these patients are easily distractible by irrelevant stimuli and unable to follow a conversation or obey.
(Photographed by AI)
C.How to prevent delirium?
Getting enough food, water and nutrients.
(Photographed by AI)
A prepared environment that encourages safe patient self-care (e.g. Self-feeding/washing and participating in ward activities, etc.)
(Photographed by AI)
Go for low frequency and gentle intonation in communication and use clear sentences glasses. Also, help patients who usually wear hearing or visual aids, and ensure that they are in good working order.
(Photographed by AI)
(Photographed by AI)
Make a clock and calendar available to the patient. This may be a clock on the wall.
(Photographed by AI)
Maintain past lifestyle, encourage family to take care of them and bring in familiar objects (e.g. pictures, clothes and radio).
(Photographed by AI)
Remove unnecessary medical device and invasive tubes.
(Photographed by AI)
Keep the patient's room quiet, remove hazardous items and obstacles, and prevent accidental falls.
.
(Photographed by AI)
Open the curtain and provide lighting that is appropriate to the time of day. Perform mobilisation activities at least once or twice daily, and mobilise a patient early after a procedure. Request doctor to carry out a medication review for people taking sleeping pills. Use non-pharmacotherapy measures to help promote sleep (such as relaxation techniques: massage, light music).
(Photographed by AI)
D.Conclusion
Delirium in the elderly often attacks suddenly. When delirium occurs, caregivers do not know what happened to the patient and how to deal with it. Once delirium happened, it can easily increase the length of hospitalization and mortality. Therefore, how to prevent the delirium is really important.
