====== Differential diagnosis of agitation and confusion ======

| Differential diagnosis of agitation and confusion                                                                                                                                                                                                         |||||
|                                                    | Delirium (acute confusional state)                | Emotional reactions       | Psychosis                                                | Dementia                                                      |
| Prevalence                                         | Common                                            | Common                    | Rare as a new presentation in an acute hospital setting  | Extremely rare                                                |
| Onset                                              | Acute or subacute                                 | Acute or acute-onchronic                                                            || Insidious                                                     |
| Course                                             | Fluctuating, usually resolves over days to weeks                                                                                       ||| Progressive                                                   |
| Conscious level                                    | Often impaired, can fluctuate rapidly             | Intact                    |                                                          | Clear until later stages                                      |
| Cognitive defects                                  | Poor short-term memory, poor attention span       | Absent                    | Absent                                                   | Poor short-term memory, attention less affected until severe  |
| Hallucinations                                     | Common, especially visual                         | None                      | Auditory; third person                                   | Often absent                                                  |
| Delusions                                          | Fleeting, nonsystematized                         | None                      | Fixed and systematized                                   | Often absent                                                  |
| Psychomotor activity                               | Increased, reduced or unpredictable               | Typically increased                                                                 || Can be normal                                                 |

//Source: Forsyth R, Newton R, eds. Paediatric Neurology (Oxford Specialist Handbooks in Paediatrics). 3 ed. ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; 2017. [[https://oxfordmedicine.com/view/10.1093/med/9780198784449.001.0001/med-9780198784449.//|https://oxfordmedicine.com/view/10.1093/med/9780198784449.001.0001/med-9780198784449.]]//

// {{tag>neurolists}} //