title: A manual of guidelines to score the modified cumulative illness rating scale and its validation in acute hospitalized elderly patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To update previous guidelines to score the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS) and test their usefulness in hospitalized elderly patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The CIRS was scored retrospectively in a cohort of elderly patients followed for 18 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  An acute internal medicine ward in an academic tertiary care hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred eighty-seven patients aged 65 and older.
  
  
  METHODS
  The CIRS was retrospectively scored for the enrolled patients. Intrarater and interrater reliability were calculated. Two illness severity indices (total score (TSC) and severity (SV)) and one comorbidity index (CM) were obtained. Clinical features and comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) variables were also used. All patients underwent an 18-month follow-up for mortality and rehospitalization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intrarater and interrater reliability of the CIRS scored following the guidelines was good (intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.83 and 0.81, respectively). The TSC, SV, and CM correlated with clinical features (laboratory values, medication usage, and length of in-hospital stay) and CGA variables (cognitive impairment, depression and disability). All three indices were able to predict 18-month mortality and rehospitalization rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirmed the validity of the CIRS as an indicator of health status and demonstrated its ability to predict 18-month mortality and rehospitalization in hospitalized elderly patients. The availability of detailed guidelines for scoring the CIRS can improve its usefulness and facilitate more-widespread use for research and clinical aims.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Rehabilitation Unit, Italian National Institute for Research and Care on Aging, Appignano, Italy. f.salvi@univpm.it
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salvi
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grilli
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giorgi
authors.forename: Adele L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Towers
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Morichi
authors.forename: Liana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Spazzafumo
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mancinelli
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Espinosa
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rappelli
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dessì-Fulgheri
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D015588:Observer Variation; D010359:Patient Readmission; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index