The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences
-
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci · Jan 1998
Is delirium different when it occurs in dementia? A study using the delirium rating scale.
The authors studied 61 geropsychiatric patients with delirium from a cohort of 843 consecutive admissions to a geriatric clinical research unit. A central study goal was to assess how the presence of dementia affected the presentation of delirium. Eighteen delirious (D) and 43 delirious-demented (D-D) patients were compared on the Delirium Rating Scale (DRS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), and EEG. ⋯ DRS items were similar in the two groups except that D-D had more cognitive impairment than D. An exploratory principal components analysis of DRS items identified two core factors. The authors conclude that the presentation of delirium in the setting of concurrent dementia is very similar to delirium without dementia, with subtle differences probably attributable to dementia.
-
Aggressive behavior is difficult to capture with most available rating instruments because it occurs with low frequency. The Overt Aggression Scale (OAS) was designed to capture all incidents on a 24-hour basis. ⋯ OAS ratings capture episodes of aggressive behavior, measure trends in aggressive behavior over time, and appear to reflect change associated with pharmacotherapy in hospitalized children. This study suggests that the use of the OAS on a children's psychiatric inpatient unit is appropriate and feasible for clinical as well as research purposes.
-
The authors review posttraumatic headache (PTH). The most common symptom following head injury, PTH is paradoxically most severe after mild head injury. ⋯ Often PTH affects family life, recreation, and employment. Patients require education and support as well as appropriate evaluation and treatment.
-
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci · Jan 1994
Comparative StudyThe Delirium Rating Scale in a psychogeriatric inpatient setting.
The Delirium Rating Scale (DRS) has been shown to be a valid instrument for identifying and grading the severity of delirium in patients admitted 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. ⋯ A DRS threshold score of > or = 10 correctly identified delirious patients with a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 82%. Both psychosis and cognitive impairment appeared to falsely elevate the DRS score in this population.