THE DELIRIUM RATING-SCALE IN A PSYCHOGERIATRIC INPATIENT SETTING

The Delirium Rating Scale (DRS) has been shown to be a valid instrumen t for identifying and grading the severity of delirium in patients adm itted to a general hospital for medical or surgical treatment. However , its accuracy in identifying delirium among elderly patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation and treatment of psychiatric illness has not been previously addressed. The DRS was administered t o 791 elderly patients who were consecutively admitted to a psychogeri atric unit; 70 met DSM-III-R criteria for delirium. A DRS threshold sc ore of greater than or equal to 10 correctly identified delirious pati ents Both a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 82%. Both psychosi s and cognitive impairment appeared to falsely elevate the DRS score i n this population.