An 85-year-old man is admitted to the hospital with gastroenteritis and dehydration after a hiking trip to Mexico.He is given a dose of meclizine hydrochloride,an anticholinergic,for vomiting.He begins to hallucinate and talk to his wife,who has been dead for 10 years.The nurse assesses this behavior to be:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Anticholinergic drugs can cause sudden confusion in the elderly.There is nothing in the history that suggests that the behavior would be related to AD or any other dementia as dementias progress slowly.Dehydration would increase the effect of the anticholinergic.

An 85-Year-Old Man Is Admitted to the Hospital with Gastroenteritis