Initial validation of a brief provisional diagnostic scale for delirium.
OBJECTIVE
The Delirium Diagnostic Tool-Provisional (DDT-Pro) is a newly developed provisional diagnostic tool for delirium presented here. This study evaluated its accuracy and validity in a population of participants with acquired brain injury (ABI).


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Thirty-six patients with ABI, including traumatic brain injury (TBI; n = 29) and intraparenchymal haemorrhage (ICH; n = 7) were assessed at admission to inpatient rehabilitation using the DDT-Pro, the Delirium Rating Scale-Revised 98 (DRS-R98) and DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for delirium.


RESULTS
Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the estimate of accuracy, the area under the curve (AUC), was 0.994, and the DDT-Pro accurately classified 35/36 (97%) observations vs the DSM-IV-TR gold standard. The DDT-Pro correlated well with the DRS-R98 both in terms of raw score (r = -0.913, p < 0.0001) and estimates of the duration of delirium (r = 0.975, p < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
The DDT-Pro is supported as a measure of delirium following ABI. Further validation in ABI and other medical populations is recommended.
Kean
Jacob
J
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA. jakean@indiana.edu
Trzepacz
Paula T
PT
Murray
Laura L
LL
Abell
Malene
M
Trexler
Lance
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003693:Delirium / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult