Knowing the Older Adult With Delirium Superimposed on Dementia

Abstract

Can delirium be detected in persons with dementia? At one time, many believed that it was not important or even possible to recognize delirium in persons with dementia. Early studies of delirium excluded persons with dementia or used capacity to consent as a requirement to enroll in studies, thus entering selection bias into who was enrolled in studies of delirium.1–3 Other work in the field of delirium and dementia focused on the need to differentiate and separate the two syndromes and did not appreciate the extent to which they occur together and the importance of early recognition and prevention of delirium superimposed on dementia (DSD).