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Altered Mental Status and Delirium in Pediatric Patients

Ewa D Bieber1,2, Heidi A B Smith3,4, D Catherine Fuchs5

  • 1Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Seminars in Neurology
|September 30, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Assessing pediatric mental status requires understanding child development. Recognizing delirium, a neurocognitive disorder from physiologic changes, improves with risk monitoring and screening tools.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Child Psychiatry
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Mental status assessment in children requires consideration of developmental stages.
  • Delirium is a critical neurocognitive disorder with significant implications for pediatric health.
  • Early identification and management are crucial for improving patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To outline the principles of pediatric mental status assessment.
  • To define delirium in the pediatric population.
  • To highlight strategies for improved recognition and management of delirium in children.

Main Methods:

  • Clinical observation and interaction for mental status evaluation.
  • Understanding of cognitive, language, and psychosocial development.
  • Monitoring of predisposing risks and precipitating factors for delirium.
  • Utilizing validated pediatric screening tools for delirium detection.

Main Results:

  • Pediatric mental status assessment is developmental and requires careful description of alterations.
  • Delirium is a phenotypic diagnosis linked to physiological changes.
  • Effective recognition is enhanced through proactive monitoring and screening.

Conclusions:

  • Comprehensive pediatric mental status assessment must integrate developmental understanding.
  • Delirium recognition and management are vital for child patient safety.
  • Proactive strategies, including screening tools, improve pediatric delirium care.

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