Assessment scales for delirium: A review

Table 2 Important features of rating scales useful for screening, diagnosis and severity rating of Delirium

Scale	Criteria on which the scale was based	No. of items	Ratings done by	Time taken in minutes	Screening	Diagnosis	Severity rating
Clinical Assessment Confusion-A[27,28]		25	Nurses	< 5		√
Clinical Assessment Confusion-B[27,28]		58	Nurses			√
Confusion Assessment Method[23]	DSM-III-R	9	Non psychiatrist clinicians	< 5	√	√	√
Confusion State Evaluation[32]	Research	22	Nurses, physicians, psychologists	< 30		√	√
Cognitive Test for Delirium[36,37]	DSM-III-R	9	Research assistant	10-15
Delirium Assessment Scale[33]	DSM-III	8	Physicians				√
Delirium Index[31]	DSM-III-R	7	Research assistant	5-10			√
Delirium Observation Screening Scale[14,15]	DSM-IV	25	Research assistant	5-10	√
Delirium Observation Scale[14,15]	DSM-IV	13	Nurses	< 5	√
Delirium Rating Scale[29]	DSM-III	10	Trained clinicians				√
Delirium Symptom Interview[19]	DSM-III	109	Trained interviewer	15		√	√
Delirium Severity Scale[34]			Research assistant	10			√
Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale[22]	DSM-IV	10	Physicians	10-15			√
NEECHAM Confusion Scale[12]	Research	9	Nurses	10	√
Delirium Rating Scale-Revised-98[21]	DSM-IV	16	Psychiatrists
Nursing Delirium Screening Scale[13]		5	Nurses	1	√	√
Intensive care delirium screening checklist[16]	DSM-IV	8	Non-specialist staff	7-10
Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium scale[17]		5
Saskatoon Delirium Checklist[20]	DSM-III	10	Clinician	< 15		√
Delirium-O-Meter[30]	DSM-IV	12	Limited training				√
Confusion assessment method for intensive care unit assessment tool[24,25]	DSM-IV	9	Trained health professional	< 5		√

DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.