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Dementia, Delirium, and Depression

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Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Practice ((CCP))

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Abstract

Changes in mental status can affect many residents during their stay in a post-acute or long-term care (PA/LTC) facility. Changes in cognition can either be acute as in seen in delirium, subacute as seen in depression, or chronic as seen in dementia. As such assessment by the practitioner can be challenging as one or more of these conditions may occur in the same resident. Understanding the similarities and dissimilarities between the clinical features of dementia, delirium, and depression is paramount when evaluating the resident who presents with a change in mental status. The chapter will emphasize how to differentiate between these three conditions and to describe the common presentations of dementia, delirium, and depression, and review their differential diagnosis and treatment. Screening tools are discussed as well as the pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic and behavioral interventions in the treatment of delirium, depression, and dementia.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Pennsylvania, Jenkintown, PA, USA

    Pamela A. Fenstemacher

  2. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, Edinburg, TX, USA

    Brandon Cantazaro, Daniela Hernandez & Andres Suarez

  3. University Hospitals, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Krishna Suri

  4. Rio Grande Valley Graduate Medical Education Consortium, Edinburg, TX, USA

    Andrew Dentino

Authors
  1. Pamela A. Fenstemacher
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  2. Brandon Cantazaro
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  3. Daniela Hernandez
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  4. Andres Suarez
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  5. Krishna Suri
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  6. Andrew Dentino
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Family and Preventive Medicine, OU Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Peter Winn

  2. The University of Pennsylvania, Jenkintown, PA, USA

    Pamela A. Fenstemacher

  3. Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Richard G. Stefanacci

  4. Department of Geriatrics, Penn Medicine, Lancaster General Health, Lancaster, PA, USA

    R. Scott DeLong

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Fenstemacher, P.A., Cantazaro, B., Hernandez, D., Suarez, A., Suri, K., Dentino, A. (2023). Dementia, Delirium, and Depression. In: Winn, P., Fenstemacher, P.A., Stefanacci, R.G., DeLong, R.S. (eds) Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Current Clinical Practice. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28628-5_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28628-5_14

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-28627-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-28628-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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