Which single feature is regarded as the core deficit separating delirium from dementia across all diagnostic systems?

• A Impairment of delayed recall
• B Impairment of sustained and shifting attention ✓
• C Presence of language disturbance
• D Presence of perceptual disturbances

Explanation

Disturbance in attention, with reduced ability to focus, sustain, or shift attention, is the mandatory core feature of delirium in DSM-5 and the basis of the Confusion Assessment Method. Patients with dementia typically perform reasonably on simple attention tasks early in illness while failing memory tests, the opposite profile. Visual hallucinations occur in both delirium and Lewy body dementia, and recall impairment occurs in both conditions, so options A and D cannot discriminate.

Reference: Kaplan and Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry, 12th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

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