CUCN Dementia and Delirium Can Cause Cognitive Impairment Questions

Mrs. Taylor Outcome is a 73-year-old female currently living at her own residence; however, her daughter is worried that Mrs. Outcome may be “losing it” after she left a burner on and caused a small fire in her house.  After this event, Mrs. Outcome’s daughter, Teresa, stayed with her mother to make sure she was “all right”.  Teresa noted that during the night her mother once yelled out “help me, help me.”  Teresa also noted some confusion between day and night evidenced by her mother sleeping in the day and staying up at night.

Mrs. Outcome and her daughter arrive at your practice.  As is standard, you have the nurse perform some standardized tests.

The scores on her tests are listed below:

• FAQ = 13/30
• GAD-7 = 7/21
• PHQ-9 = 8/27
• MMSE = 20/30
• Clock drawing test = 2/5

Please answer the following questions about Mrs. Outcome.

1. Based on the test scores above, do you believe that Mrs. Outcome does have dementia?
2. What are the differences between delirium and dementia?
3. What two categories of medications are often used to treat dementia and how do these medications work?