Validation of the Catatonia Quick Screen in the Original Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale Cohort.

INTRODUCTION

Delayed catatonia diagnosis may cause preventable harm. The 4-item Catatonia Quick Screen (CQS) allows rapid screening, but its specificity requires evaluation. We assessed CQS sensitivity and specificity using the original Bush Francis Catatonia Rating Scale (BFCRS) cohort.

METHODS

Retrospective reanalysis of data from 215 consecutive inpatient psychiatric admissions. CQS classifications were compared against BFCRS, DSM-5-TR, and ICD-11 criteria. 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated via Clopper-Pearson exact methods, treating the eight single-sign patients conservatively as false positives.

RESULTS

All 15 catatonia cases screened positive (true positives). The CQS demonstrated 100% sensitivity (95% CI: 78.2% to 100%), 96.0% specificity (95% CI: 92.3% to 98.3%), 65.2% positive predictive value (95% CI: 42.7% to 83.6%), and 100% negative predictive value (95% CI: 98.1% to 100%).

CONCLUSION

The CQS showed excellent sensitivity and high specificity in this psychiatric cohort. It serves as a rapid, low-burden screening tool to accelerate clinical recognition, though positive results require formal diagnostic confirmation.