The Phenomenology of Delirium: Presence, Severity, and Relationship between Symptoms

Table 3

Severity of symptomatology in mild, moderate, and severe delirium.

Delirium severity	Mild	Moderate	Severe	Kruskal-Wallis
Reduced consciousness/awareness	1.50 (1-2, SD 0.52)	1.79 (1–3, SD 0.53)	2.59 (SD 0.51)	𝜒^2(2): 26.86, 𝑃<0.001
Disorientation	1.42 (1-2, SD 0.52)	2.27 (1–3, SD 0.53)	2.94 (2-3, SD 0.24)	𝜒^2(2): 38.66, 𝑃<0.001
Short term memory impairment	1.00 (1, SD 0)	2.00 (1–3, SD 0.89)	2.88 (2-3, SD 0.33)	𝜒^2(2): 29.94, 𝑃<0.001
Impaired digit span	1.75 (1-2, SD 0.45)	2.44 (1–3, SD 0.53)	3.00 (3, SD 0)	𝜒^2(2): 32.30, 𝑃<0.001
Reduced ability to maintain/shift attention	1.67 (1-2, SD 0.49)	2.07 (1–3, SD 0.49)	2.88 (2-3, SD 0.33)	𝜒^2(2): 38.45, 𝑃<0.001
Disorganized thinking	1.67 (0–3, SD 0.49)	1.93 (1–3, SD 0.66)	2.82 (2-3, SD 0.39)	𝜒^2(2): 26.97, 𝑃<0.001
Perceptual disturbances	1.25 (0–2, SD 0.97)	1.06 (0–3, SD 1.12)	1.06 (0–3, SD 1.03)	ns
Delusions	0.58 (0–2, SD 0.67)	0.89 (0–3, SD 0.87)	1.29 (0–3, SD 1.05)	ns
Psychomotor abnormality	2.00 (1-2, SD 0.42)	2.15 (1–3, SD 0.47)	2.65 (2-3, SD 0.49)	𝜒^2(2): 16.24, 𝑃<0.001
Sleep-wake cycle disturbance	2.00 (1-2, SD 0.60)	2.01 (1–3, SD 0.52)	2.41 (1–3, SD 0.61)	𝜒^2(2): 7.41, 𝑃<0.05

𝜒²: Pearson’s chi-square, SD: standard deviation.