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Delirium in the Medically Ill Elderly: Operationalizing the DSM-III Criteria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2005

Gary L. Gottlieb ,
Jerry Johnson ,
Christine Wanich  and
Eileen Sullivan
Gary L. Gottlieb
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Jerry Johnson
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Christine Wanich
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania and Ralston–Penn Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Eileen Sullivan
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania and Ralston–Penn Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
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Abstract

This prospective study determined the incidence and prevalence of delirium in 235 consecutive subjects over age 70 admitted to a general medicine hospital service. The DSM-III criteria for delirium were operationalized. Using accepted screening procedures, patients were referred for evaluation by a psychiatrist who determined whether delirium was present by applying explicit operational definitions to each of the DSM-III criteria. Data on presence and severity of each of the DSM-III symptoms were recorded. Analysis of these data indicates that the DSM-III criteria describe a discrete, recognizable syndrome. However, some of the symptoms are more specific than others in identifying the syndrome in this population.

Type
Diagnostic Criteria and Assessment Instruments
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , December 1991 , pp. 181 - 196
Copyright
© 1991 Springer Publishing Company

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