Byron Dunn

almost 4 years ago

History taking is a very important tool in differentiating between dementia (loss of cognitive functions) from delirium which is loss for less than 6 months. Patients developing dementia should always be asked open ended questions covering topics as: view about memory loss (presence or absence, when it begin), biographical history (major events of life, job), objective view of memory decline (current affairs), impact of memory decline on life (difficult functioning and doing minor activities like shopping by themselves), social history (habit of driving and safety) and previous medical history.