title: The impact of different diagnostic criteria on prevalence rates for delirium.
abstract: A cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the concordance of the present criteria of delirium among elderly (>70 years) geriatric hospital patients (n = 230) and nursing home residents (n = 195). Different subjects were diagnosed as having delirium when operationalized criteria according to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III, DSM-III-R, DSM-IV) and the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) were used. Whereas 132 subjects (31.1%) met the criteria for delirium by at least 1 classification, only 25 (5.9%) met all 4. The most inclusive was the DSM-IV (24.9% of the subjects) followed by DSM-III-R (19.5%), DSM-III (18.8%) and ICD-10 (10.1%), respectively. The DSM-IV and ICD-10 had the largest number of patients not overlapping with any other diagnostic group. The newest DSM-IV classification found more cases of delirium especially among acutely ill, hospitalized patients.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Clinic, Department of Medicine, Helsinki University Hospital, HUS, Finland.
authors.forename: Jouko V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Laurila
authors.forename: Kaisu H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Pitkala
authors.forename: Timo E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Strandberg
authors.forename: Reijo S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tilvis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003693:Delirium / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D015995:Prevalence