Past Issues

Objectives:The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of the Revised Hasegawa’s Dementia Scale (HDS-R) in screening delirium for consul-tant psychiatrists at their first encounter with the patients in clinical medical/surgi-cal settings. The authors also intended to present the sensitivity, specificity, and the cut-off scores of HDS-R scores in detecting delirium. Methods:We recruited 69 patients who have been referred to psychiatric consultation liaison (C-L) service at a medical center in northern Taiwan. HDS-R and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) were applied and the diagnoses were made according to DSM-IV criteria. Results:We found that Cronbach’s coefficient αHDS-R was 0.894, showing sig-nificant correlation with MMSE (r = 0.972, p < 0.001). The HDS-R scores in the delirium group were ranged from 0 to 23, with an average of 5.8 (standard devia-tion = 6.5). The HDS-R scores in the non-delirium group were ranged from 4 to 30, with an average of 22.9 (S. D. = 7.5, unequal variance t test, t = -9.659, degree of freedom = 45.978, p < 0.001). Area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.946 (95% confident interval 0.875-0.997). The best cut-off point of HDS-R score for screening delirium was 16/17. Conclusion:HDS-R may serve as a screening tool of delirium for consultant psychiatrists who encounter the patients for the first time in the clinical medical/surgical settings.