What Causes Sudden Altered Mental Status

In infants and children, the most common causes of altered mental status include infection, trauma, metabolic changes, and toxic ingestion. Young adults most often present with altered mental status secondary to toxic ingestion or trauma.

What does an altered mental status indicate?

Altered mental status (AMS) is a disruption in how your brain works that causes a change in behavior. This change can happen suddenly or over days. AMS ranges from slight confusion to total disorientation and increased sleepiness to coma.

What is the potential cause of AMS?

The non-neurological causes of AMS in the emergency department included drugs and substance intoxication, infection, metabolic endocrine abnormalities, trauma, cancer, and system/organ dysfunction. [15] Among these causes, acute alcoholism was considered to be the main factor out of AMS neurological causes.