Dataset Information

New Delirium Severity Indicators: Generation and Internal Validation in the Better Assessment of Illness (BASIL) Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Delirium is a common and preventable geriatric syndrome. Moving beyond the binary classification of delirium present/absent, delirium severity represents a potentially important outcome for evaluating preventive and treatment interventions and tracking the course of patients. Although several delirium severity assessment tools currently exist, most have been developed in the absence of advanced measurement methodology and have not been evaluated with rigorous validation studies.

Objective

We aimed to report our development of new delirium severity items and the results of item reduction and selection activities guided by psychometric analysis of data derived from a field study.

Methods

Building on our literature review of delirium instruments and expert panel process to identify domains of delirium severity, we adapted items from existing delirium severity instruments and generated new items. We then fielded these items among a sample of 352 older hospitalized patients.

Results

We used an expert panel process and psychometric data analysis techniques to narrow a set of 303 potential items to 17 items for use in a new delirium severity instrument. The 17-item set demonstrated good internal validity and favorable psychometric characteristics relative to comparator instruments, including the Confusion Assessment Method - Severity (CAM-S) score, the Delirium Rating Scale Revised 98, and the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale.

Conclusion

We more fully conceptualized delirium severity and identified characteristics of an ideal delirium severity instrument. These characteristics include an instrument that is relatively quick to administer, is easy to use by raters with minimal training, and provides a severity rating with good content validity, high internal consistency reliability, and broad domain coverage across delirium symptoms. We anticipate these characteristics to be represented in the subsequent development of our final delirium severity instrument.

SUBMITTER: Vasunilashorn SM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7484102 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:OBJECTIVES:Delirium severity is independently associated with longer hospital stays, nursing home placement, and death in patients outside the ICU. Delirium severity in the ICU is not routinely measured because the available instruments are difficult to complete in critically ill patients. We designed our study to assess the reliability and validity of a new ICU delirium severity tool, the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU-7 delirium severity scale. DESIGN:Observational cohort study. SETTING:Medical, surgical, and progressive ICUs of three academic hospitals. PATIENTS:Five hundred eighteen adult (? 18 yr) patients. INTERVENTIONS:None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Patients received the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU, Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale, and Delirium Rating Scale-Revised-98 assessments. A 7-point scale (0-7) was derived from responses to the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU and Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale items. Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU-7 showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's ? = 0.85) and good correlation with Delirium Rating Scale-Revised-98 scores (correlation coefficient = 0.64). Known-groups validity was supported by the separation of mechanically ventilated and nonventilated assessments. Median Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU-7 scores demonstrated good predictive validity with higher odds (odds ratio = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.30-1.66) of in-hospital mortality and lower odds (odds ratio = 0.8; 95% CI = 0.72-0.9) of being discharged home after adjusting for age, race, gender, severity of illness, and chronic comorbidities. Higher Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU-7 scores were also associated with increased length of ICU stay (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:Our results suggest that Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU-7 is a valid and reliable delirium severity measure among ICU patients. Further research comparing it to other delirium severity measures, its use in delirium efficacy trials, and real-life implementation is needed to determine its role in research and clinical practice.

Project description:ImportanceMeasurement of delirium severity has been recognized as highly important for tracking prognosis, monitoring response to treatment, and estimating burden of care for patients both during and after hospitalization. Rather than simply rating delirium as present or absent, the ability to quantify its severity would enable development and monitoring of more effective treatment approaches for the condition.ObjectivesTo present a comprehensive review of delirium severity instruments, conduct a methodologic quality rating of the original validation study of the most commonly used instruments, and select a group of top-rated instruments.Evidence reviewThis systematic review was conducted using literature from Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, from January 1, 1974, through March 31, 2017, with the key words delirium, severity, tests, measures, and intensity. Inclusion criteria were original articles assessing delirium severity and using a delirium-specific severity instrument. Final listings of articles were supplemented with hand searches of reference listings to ensure completeness. At least 2 reviewers independently completed each step of the review process: article selection, data extraction, and methodologic quality assessment of relevant articles using a validated rating scale. All discrepancies between raters were resolved by consensus.FindingsOf 9409 articles identified, 228 underwent full text review, and we identified 42 different instruments of delirium severity. Eleven of the 42 tools were multidomain, delirium-specific instruments providing a quantitative rating of delirium severity; these instruments underwent a methodologic quality review. Applying prespecified criteria related to frequency of use, methodologic quality, construct or predictive validity, and broad domain coverage, an expert panel used an iterative modified Delphi process to select 6 final high-quality instruments meeting these criteria: the Confusion Assessment Method-Severity Score, Confusional State Examination, Delirium-O-Meter, Delirium Observation Scale, Delirium Rating Scale, and Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale.Conclusions and relevanceThe 6 instruments identified may enable accurate measurement of delirium severity to improve clinical care for patients with this condition. This work may stimulate increased usage and head-to-head comparison of these instruments.

Project description:ObjectivesBoth delirium duration and delirium severity are associated with adverse patient outcomes. Serum biomarkers associated with delirium duration and delirium severity in ICU patients have not been reliably identified. We conducted our study to identify peripheral biomarkers representing systemic inflammation, impaired neuroprotection, and astrocyte activation associated with delirium duration, delirium severity, and in-hospital mortality.DesignObservational study.SettingThree Indianapolis hospitals.PatientsThree-hundred twenty-one critically ill delirious patients.InterventionsNone.Measurements and main resultsWe analyzed the associations between biomarkers collected at delirium onset and delirium-/coma-free days assessed through Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale/Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU, delirium severity assessed through Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU-7, and in-hospital mortality. After adjusting for age, gender, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, Charlson comorbidity score, sepsis diagnosis and study intervention group, interleukin-6, -8, and -10, tumor necrosis factor-α, C-reactive protein, and S-100β levels in quartile 4 were negatively associated with delirium-/coma-free days by 1 week and 30 days post enrollment. Insulin-like growth factor-1 levels in quartile 4 were not associated with delirium-/coma-free days at both time points. Interleukin-6, -8, and -10, tumor necrosis factor-α, C-reactive protein, and S-100β levels in quartile 4 were also associated with delirium severity by 1 week. At hospital discharge, interleukin-6, -8, and -10 retained the association but tumor necrosis factor-α, C-reactive protein, and S-100β lost their associations with delirium severity. Insulin-like growth factor-1 levels in quartile 4 were not associated with delirium severity at both time points. Interleukin-8 and S-100β levels in quartile 4 were also associated with higher in-hospital mortality. Interleukin-6 and -10, tumor necrosis factor-α, and insulin-like growth factor-1 were not found to be associated with in-hospital mortality.ConclusionsBiomarkers of systemic inflammation and those for astrocyte and glial activation were associated with longer delirium duration, higher delirium severity, and in-hospital mortality. Utility of these biomarkers early in delirium onset to identify patients at a higher risk of severe and prolonged delirium, and delirium related complications during hospitalization needs to be explored in future studies.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Delirium during critical illness results from numerous insults, which might be interconnected and yet individually contribute to long-term cognitive impairment. We sought to describe the prevalence and duration of clinical phenotypes of delirium (ie, phenotypes defined by clinical risk factors) and to understand associations between these clinical phenotypes and severity of subsequent long-term cognitive impairment. METHODS:In this multicentre, prospective cohort study, we included adult (?18 years) medical or surgical ICU patients with respiratory failure, shock, or both as part of two parallel studies: the Bringing to Light the Risk Factors and Incidence of Neuropsychological Dysfunction in ICU Survivors (BRAIN-ICU) study, and the Delirium and Dementia in Veterans Surviving ICU Care (MIND-ICU) study. We assessed patients at least once a day for delirium using the Confusion Assessment Method-ICU and identified a priori-defined, non-mutually exclusive phenotypes of delirium per the presence of hypoxia, sepsis, sedative exposure, or metabolic (eg, renal or hepatic) dysfunction. We considered delirium in the absence of hypoxia, sepsis, sedation, and metabolic dysfunction to be unclassified. 3 and 12 months after discharge, we assessed cognition with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). We used multiple linear regression to separately analyse associations between the duration of each phenotype of delirium and RBANS global cognition scores at 3-month and 12-month follow-up, adjusting for potential confounders. FINDINGS:Between March 14, 2007, and May 27, 2010, 1048 participants were enrolled, eight of whom could not be analysed. Of 1040 participants, 708 survived to 3 months of follow-up and 628 to 12 months. Delirium was common, affecting 740 (71%) of 1040 participants at some point during the study and occurring on 4187 (31%) of all 13?434 participant-days. A single delirium phenotype was present on only 1355 (32%) of all 4187 participant-delirium days, whereas two or more phenotypes were present during 2832 (68%) delirium days. Sedative-associated delirium was most common (present during 2634 [63%] delirium days), and a longer duration of sedative-associated delirium predicted a worse RBANS global cognition score 12 months later, after adjusting for covariates (difference in score comparing 3 days vs 0 days: -4·03, 95% CI -7·80 to -0·26). Similarly, longer durations of hypoxic delirium (-3·76, 95% CI -7·16 to -0·37), septic delirium (-3·67, -7·13 to -0·22), and unclassified delirium (-4·70, -7·16 to -2·25) also predicted worse cognitive function at 12 months, whereas duration of metabolic delirium did not (1·14, -0·12 to 3·01). INTERPRETATION:Our findings suggest that clinicians should consider sedative-associated, hypoxic, and septic delirium, which often co-occur, as distinct indicators of acute brain injury and seek to identify all potential risk factors that may impact on long-term cognitive impairment, especially those that are iatrogenic and potentially modifiable such as sedation. FUNDING:National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs.