Detection of delirium by nurses among long-term care residents with dementia

BMC Nursing

Table 5 Validity of Bedside nurse assessments of delirium symptoms compared to RA-1 ratings of delirium symptoms using MDS-2 items¹

Symptoms	T1 (N = 125)		T2 (N = 125)
	Sensitivity² No. (%) [95% CI]	Specificity³No. (%) [95% CI]	Sensitivity No. (%) [95% CI]	Specificity No. (%) [95% CI]
Easily distracted	62/116 (53.4) [44.0–62.8]	6/9 (66.7) [29.9–92.5]	73/117 (62.4) [53.0–71.2]	5/8 (62.5) [24.5–91.5]
Periods of altered perception	9/23 (39.1) [19.7–61.5]	75/102 (73.5) [63.9–81.8]	9/21 (42.9) [21.8–66.0]	78/104 (75.0) [65.6–83.0]
Disorganized speech	50/86 (58.1) [47.0–68.7]	27/39 (69.2) [52.4–83.0]	48/84 (57.1) [45.9–67.9]	28/41 (68.3) [51.9–81.9]
Periods of restlessness	35/108 (32.4) [23.7–42.1]	14/17 (82.3) [56.6–96.2]	29/102 (28.4) [19.9–38.2]	19/23 (82.6) [61.2–95.0]
Periods of lethargy	22/63 (34.9) [23.3–48.0]	47/62 (75.8) [63.3–85.8]	24/57 (42.1) [29.1–55.9]	55/68 (80.9) [69.5–89.4]
Mental function varies over the course of the day	54/118 (45.8) [36.6–55.2]	4/7 (57.1) [18.4–90.1]	56/113 (49.6) [40.0–59.1]	8/12 (66.7) [34.9–90.1]

1 RA-1 ratings of delirium symptoms, assessed with the MDS-2 items, was used as the reference standard.
2 Indicates how often nurses detected delirium symptom when it was present (true positive rate).
3 Indicates how often nurses rated delirium symptom as absent when it was not present (true-negative rate).

ISSN: 1472-6955