title: Measuring delirium severity in older general hospital inpatients without dementia. The Delirium Severity Scale.
abstract: The authors evaluated the validity, reliability, and sensitivity to change of the Delirium Severity Scale (DSS), a 10-minute assessment consisting of Forward Digit Span and Similarities. Twenty-two older inpatients with delirium but not dementia and 15 control patients were administered the DSS during hospitalization. Scores were significantly inversely correlated with experts' quantitative ratings of severity at all three time-points examined. The DSS showed significant improvement over time (P < 0.001) and significant correlation with improvement in expert ratings (P = 0.026). The DSS shows promise as a valid and reliable measure sensitive to changing symptom severity.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417, USA.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Bettin
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Maletta
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Dysken
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Jilk
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Weldon
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuskowski
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mach
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D003693:Delirium / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index