Assessment scales for delirium: A review

Table 3 Symptom coverage by various scales vis a vis Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-III, IIIR, IV and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision criteria

Diagnostic criteria/rating scale	Acute onset	Fluctuating course	Presence of Physical Disorder	Disturbance in level of Consciousness	Disturbance in Attention	Disturbance in orientation	Disturbance in Thinking	Memory disturbances	Perceptual abnormality	Disturbance in psychomotor activity	Alterationin sleepwake cycle	Moodfeatures	Others
DSM-III[6]	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
DSM-IIIR[7]	√	√		√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
DSM-IV[8]	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
ICD-10[54]	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
CAC-A[27,28]						√		√	√	√			√6
CAC-B[27,28]						√		√	√	√			√6
CAM[23]	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
CSE[32]	√	√			√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√1
CTD[36,37]					√	√		√
DAS[33]		√			√	√	√	√		√
Delirium-O-meter[30]		√		√	√	√	√3		√	√		√4
DI[31]				√	√	√	√	√	√	√
DOS[14,15]					√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√7
DRS[29]	√	√	√			√	√	√	√	√	√	√
DRS-R-98[21]	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√2
DSI[19]		√		√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
DSS[34]					√		√	√
ICDSC[16]		√		√	√	√	√2		√	√	√	√2
MDAS[22]				√	√	√	√	√		√
NEECHAM[12]					√	√	√	√
Nu-DESC[13]						√			√	√			√5
Saskatoon DC[20]		√	√	√		√		√	√	√	√		√2

¹Includes perseveration, impaired contact, irritability, mental uneasiness, intensity of the current episode, frequency and intensity of the episodes;

²Inappropriate thinking or mood;

³Incoherence of speech;

⁴Includes apathy and anxiety;

⁵Inappropriate behaviour, inappropriate communication;

⁶General behaviour;

⁷Is picking, disorderly, restless; Pulls IV tubing, feeding tubes, catheters, etc. DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual; ICD-10: International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision; DRS-R-98: Delirium Rating Scale-revised version; CTD: Cognitive Test for Delirium.