VALIDATION OF A COGNITIVE TEST FOR DELIRIUM IN MEDICAL ICU PATIENTS

Patients with delirium, dementia, depression, and schizophrenia were a dministered a newly developed rest designed to identify delirium in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting. Two alternate forms of the Cogniti ve Test for Delirium (CTD) were highly correlated. The delirium patien ts performed least well, and an optimal cutoff score derived from rela tive-operating characteristic analysis resulted in a sensitivity of 10 0% and a specificity of 95%. In a follow-up study, the Mini-Mental Sta te Exam could not be administered to 42% of the ICU patients who compl eted the CTD. Early identification of delirium with the CTD may lead t o timely treatment of specific etiologic conditions and a reduction in mortality and morbidity.