Drug-induced confusional states: the usual suspects? - PubMed (original) (raw)

Drug-induced confusional states: the usual suspects?

A Hufschmidt et al. Acta Neurol Scand. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Acute confusional state (ACS) is a frequent reason for hospital admission. This study examines retrospectively the frequency by which individual drugs were found responsible for ACS.

Results: Drug-induced ACS was found in 65 (18.8%) of 346 hospital admissions for acute confusion. The most frequent causative substances were dopaminergic drugs in Parkinsonian patients (24.2%), diuretics (15.1%), tricyclic or tetracyclic antidepressants (13.6%) and benzodiazepines (13.6%). Almost half of the patients were demented, and in one-third of these, dementia had not been diagnosed hitherto.

Conclusion: The data suggest that diuretics by way of causing hyponatraemia are as relevant a cause of ACS as dopaminergic or anticholinergic substances.

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