Table 1.

Commonly used delirium screening tools [17, 23, 24]

Tool or criteria	Administration	Comments
Confusion Assessment Method (CAM)	Healthcare team: mixed observational and direct patient questioning Full tool = 9 items (requires coadministration of a brief cognitive assessment tool)	Moderate rater training required; training manual available at http://www.hospitalelderlifeprogram.org/
Nursing Delirium Screening Scale (Nu-DESC)	Nursing: end of each nursing shift Observational, brief, 5 items (possible range of total score 0–10) Symptoms rated from 0 to 2 based on presence and intensity of each symptom A total score of ≥2 should prompt further evaluation with CAM	Some training required; lower sensitivity for detection of hypoactive delirium; no published formal validation study in palliative care patients
Delirium Observation Screening (DOS) Scale	Nursing: end of each nursing shift Observational, 13 items (possible range of total score 0–13) Score of ≥3 indicates delirium	Some training required; validated in palliative care patients