confusion

錯乱

confusionとdelirium

• Confusion, a mental and behavioral state of reduced comprehension, coherence, and capacity to reason, is one of the most common problems encountered in medicine, accounting for a large number of emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and inpatient consultations. Delirium, a term used to describe an acute confusional state, remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality, contributing billions of dollars yearly to health care costs in the United States alone. Delirium often goes unrecognized despite clear evidence that it is usually the cognitive manifestation of serious underlying medical or neurologic illness. (HIM.158)