International journal of geriatric psychiatry
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Mar 2011
Assessing severity of delirium by the Delirium Observation Screening Scale.
Delirium is the most common acute neuropsychiatric disorder in hospitalized elderly. Assessment of the severity of delirium is important for adjusting medication. The minimal dose of medication is preferable to prevent side effects. Only few nurse based severity measures are available. The aim of this study was to validate a scale developed to assess symptoms of delirium during regular nursing care, the Delirium Observation Screening (DOS) Scale, for monitoring severity of delirium. ⋯ The DOS Scale is able to measure severity of delirium. In routine daily clinical practice, the DOS Scale is a time-efficient, easy to use and reliable method for measuring and monitoring severity of delirium by nurses.