Using the nursing delirium screening scale in assessing postoperative delirium: A meta‐regression. Issue 1 (3rd November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ho, Mu‐Hsing; Choi, Edmond Pui Hang; Chiu, Hsiao‐Yean; Shen Hsiao, Shu‐Tai; Traynor, Victoria
• Is Part Of: Research in nursing & health. Volume 45:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 23
• Page End: 33
• Publication Date: 2021-11-03
• Subjects: diagnostic tests -- nursing assessment -- postoperative care -- screening -- surgical nursing; Nursing -- Research -- Periodicals; Nursing -- Periodicals; 610.7305
• DOI: 10.1002/nur.22194
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-6891

Abstract

Abstract: The nursing delirium screening scale (Nu‐DESC) was developed for the rapid assessment of delirium, but little is known regarding the performance of the Nu‐DESC in assessing postoperative delirium. The purpose of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to review and summarize the evidence of the diagnostic accuracy of the Nu‐DESC in assessing postoperative delirium. The EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and a Chinese e‐Journal database were searched from the period of the inception of the Nu‐DESC to June 18, 2020. Participants were adult (age ≥ 18 years) postoperative patients who received any type of surgery and any method of anesthesia. The quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies‐2 was employed to assess the risk of bias among the selected studies, and meta‐regression analyses were used to detect sources of between‐study heterogeneity. Eleven studies involving 2062 postoperative patients in surgical settings were included. The Nu‐DESC revealed a pooled sensitivity of 0.73 (95% confidence interval, 0.44–0.90) and a specificity of 0.93 (0.87–0.96). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.94 (0.91–0.96), which also confirmed the accuracy of the Nu‐DESC. Covariates, including the region of study and the standard reference used, were identified as possible sources of heterogeneity in the meta‐regression. The findings of this review can update existing clinical guidelines for postoperative delirium. On the basis of its satisfactory diagnostic performance, we suggest that the Nu‐DESC could be considered for nurses and allied health professionals for assessing postoperative delirium. However, because of the heterogeneity, the result of this meta‐analysis should be considered with caution.