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Validity and reliability of the Portuguese version of the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) for the detection of delirium in the elderly

2001; Thieme Medical Publishers (Germany); Volume: 59; Issue: 2A Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s0004-282x2001000200004

1678-4227

Renato Moraes Alves Fabbri, Marcos Aurélio Moreira, Regiane Garrido, Osvaldo P. Almeida,

Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances

This study has tested the validity and reliability of the Portuguese version of the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM), a diagnostic assessment instrument for delirium developed by Inouye et al. (1990). The sample was formed by 100 patients with 60 and more years of age, admitted at the emergency service of Santa Casa de São Paulo, in the time periods between July and August, 1996, November and December, 1996 and February and March, 1997. The sensibility was 94.1% and specificity 96.4%. The assessors reliability in a sample of the 24 patients resulted in a kappa = 0.70. We have concluded that CAM is an adequate instrument to assess the presence of delirium, reliable to assess elderly patients at the emergency services.