J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1994; 6:30-35
Copyright © 1994 by American Neuropsychiatric Association
The Delirium Rating Scale in a psychogeriatric inpatient setting
J Rosen, RA Sweet, BH Mulsant, AH Rifai, R Pasternak and GS Zubenko
Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, PA 15213.
The Delirium Rating Scale (DRS) has been shown to be a valid instrument for
identifying and grading the severity of delirium in patients admitted to a
general hospital for medical or surgical treatment. However, its accuracy
in identifying delirium among elderly patients admitted to a psychiatric
hospital for evaluation and treatment of psychiatric illness has not been
previously addressed. The DRS was administered to 791 elderly patients who
were consecutively admitted to a psychogeriatric unit; 70 met DSM-III-R
criteria for delirium. A DRS threshold score of > or = 10 correctly
identified delirious patients with a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity
of 82%. Both psychosis and cognitive impairment appeared to falsely elevate
the DRS score in this population.
