Clinical Utility and Performance of the Traditional Chinese Version of the 4-As Test for Delirium due to Traumatic Brain Injury.

BACKGROUND

Delirium is a common symptom following a traumatic brain injury that is often overlooked by healthcare professionals. Early detection of posttraumatic delirium is crucial to improving patient outcomes and quality of life. The 4 As Test (4AT: alertness, attention, abbreviated mental test-4, and acute mental changes) is a brief and rapid tool for delirium assessment with acceptable reliability and validity. However, the 4AT has not yet been translated for use in the Taiwanese population.

OBJECTIVE

To translate the 4AT into Traditional Chinese (TC-4AT), assess its reliability and validity, and explore the clinical effects of delirium in patients with a traumatic brain injury.

METHODS

This prospective observational study was conducted at the neurosurgery wards of 2 Taiwanese hospitals. Patients who were aged 20 years or older, were diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, and had a Glasgow Coma Scale score between 13 and 15 were included. Interrater reliability was assessed, and validity was verified using criterion-related comparisons with the Short Confusion Assessment Method. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria were employed to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the TC-4AT for screening posttraumatic brain injury delirium.

RESULTS

A total of 100 patients with an average age of 67 years were enrolled, of whom 10% were diagnosed with delirium based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria. The interrater reliability of the TC-4AT was 1.00. Patients with delirium tended to have a longer hospital stay than those without delirium (13 days vs. 7 days) although the difference was nonsignificant (P = 0.28). In terms of criterion validity, patients diagnosed with delirium using the Short Confusion Assessment Method had a significantly higher score on the TC-4AT than those not diagnosed with delirium (P < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that the optimal cutoff point was 4, with sensitivity, specificity, and area under the characteristic curve of 0.90, 0.94, and 0.96, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The TC-4AT is an accurate tool for delirium assessment that aids early detection and in informed decision-making in preventive care.