There is a whole array of symptoms that fall under this category.The point of this phrase is it gives us a quick way to say that something new is going on with the patient that affects brain function. Keep in mind that you have to know the patient well enough to know that his symptoms are not normal ("baseline" in medical terms) to him.
You can say that someone has altered mental status if he exhibits any of these, or exhibits them more intensely than normal to him:
-Confusion
-Reducedalertness
-Delusions
-Reduced emotional control
-Impaired judgement
-Disruptive behavior changes
-Reduced coordination
You may have someone with baseline dementia who normally doesn't know where he is, and that is not altered mental status for him. But then he gets a urinary tract infection that affects his thinking even more than usual, is more agitated, confused, unable to do what he normally does, and therefore now we would report that he has altered mental status and this leads medical staff to start looking for changes in his health that can affect the brain.
Altered mental status
Anxiety, restlessness, altered conciousness physical signs: pale, moist skin, blueish, rapid breathing
A - AlcoholE - EnvironmentI - InfectionO - OverdoseU - UnderdoseT - TraumaI - InsulinP - PsychosisS - SeizuresThere are more than this, but these are the major things that can cause an altered mental status.
A - AlcoholE - EnvironmentI - InfectionO - OverdoseU - UnderdoseT - TraumaI - InsulinP - PsychosisS - SeizuresThere are more than this, but these are the major things that can cause an altered mental status.
S/S include but are not limited to: obvious bleeding, air escaping from wound, atypical chest movement, bradycardia,altered mental status
Mental name and Mental status are both cool user names with the word mental in the name.
If a person has an altered mental state, they could be poisoned, suffering brain injury, hypoglycemic, drugged, suffering lung problems, or suffering any of various other illnesses. So you have to make sure their breathing and heart rate are stable to help buy time to diagnose the underlying problems. If a person is drugged or intoxicated and unconscious, they could aspirate their own vomit. That could lead to pneumonia or suffocation. Or they could smother. Also, it is possible that whatever is causing an altered mental state may also cause breathing difficulties.
The purpose of a mental status examination is to assess and evaluate a person's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning. It helps clinicians gather information about a person's mental health, including their mood, thoughts, perceptions, memory, and overall mental state, to aid in diagnosis and treatment planning.
change in mental status
Answer is: Affect
Reciting the alphabet
physical social mental emotional mental environmental