Table 3.
Expert Ratings of Patient Delirium Burden (DEL-B-P) Itemsa
| Burden theme | Items for expert review | Relevance | Clarity | Top 5b | Included/reason not included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symptom Burden | 1. Unsure of where they were | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4 (50%) | Included |
| 2. Could not remember parts of the hospital stay | 3.4 | 3.9 | 2 (25%) | Included | |
| 3. Saw or heard things that were not really there | 3.6 | 3.9 | 3 (38%) | Included | |
| 4. Nightmares or vivid dreams that were intense or bothersome | 2.8 | 3.6 | 2 (25%) | Included | |
| 5. Difficulty communicating | 2.9 | 3.0 | 1 (13%) | Dropped due to low relevancy rating | |
| 6. Suddenly felt confused | 3.9 | 3.9 | 6 (75%) | Included | |
| Emotional Burden | 7. Felt they may never be normal again | 2.9 | 3.1 | 1 (13%) | Dropped due to low relevancy rating |
| 8. Thought that they would not get better | 3.3 | 3.8 | 2 (25%) | Included | |
| 9. Afraid of losing their mind | 3.8 | 3.6 | 6 (75%) | Included | |
| Situational Burden | 10. Felt the hospital staff did not listen to them | 2.6 | 3.0 | 1 (13%) | Dropped due to low relevancy rating |
| 11. Felt they were being scolded by hospital staff | 2.4 | 3.4 | 0 | Dropped due to low relevancy rating | |
| 12. Felt they were not being respected by hospital staff | 2.9 | 3.4 | 2 (25%) | Dropped due to low relevancy rating | |
| 13. Restricted from getting out of a bed or a chair with alarms or restraints | 3.1 | 3.5 | 4 (50%) | Included | |
| 14. Concerned of being/becoming a burden to others | 3.1 | 3.8 | 2 (25%) | Dropped due to non-specificity to delirium | |
| 15. Concerned about how they would function in the future | 3.0 | 3.4 | 2 (25%) | Dropped due to non-specificity to delirium |
Note: aThe instruments are copyright pending and will be made freely and publicly available at https://www.hospitalelderlifeprogram.org/delirium-instruments/.
bTop 5 refers to the n (%) of reviewers who selected the item in response to the question “If you were to develop a 5 item delirium burden questionnaire based on the above items, which would you choose?”