posted on 2023-01-10, 12:53authored byZoë Tieges, Alasdair M. MacLullich, Atul Anand, Claire Brookes, Marica Cassarino, Margaret O'Connor, Damien Ryan, Thomas Saller, Rakesh C. Arora, Yue Chang, Kathryn Agarwal, George Taffet, Terence Quinn, Susan D. Shenkin, Rose GalvinRose Galvin
Objective: Detection of delirium in hospitalised older adults is recommended in national and international guidelines.
The 4 ‘A’s Test (4AT) is a short (<2 minutes) instrument for delirium detection that is used internationally as a standard
tool in clinical practice. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy of the 4AT for
delirium detection.
Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, clinicaltrials.gov and the Cochrane Central Register
of Controlled Trials, from 2011 (year of 4AT release on the website www.the4AT.com) until 21 December 2019. Inclusion
criteria were: older adults (≥65 years); diagnostic accuracy study of the 4AT index test when compared to delirium reference
standard (standard diagnostic criteria or validated tool). Methodological quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment
of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. Pooled estimates of sensitivity and specificity were generated from a bivariate random
effects model.
Results: Seventeen studies (3,702 observations) were included. Settings were acute medicine, surgery, a care home and the
emergency department. Three studies assessed performance of the 4AT in stroke. The overall prevalence of delirium was 24.2%
(95% CI 17.8–32.1%; range 10.5–61.9%). The pooled sensitivity was 0.88 (95% CI 0.80–0.93) and the pooled specificity
was 0.88 (95% CI 0.82–0.92). Excluding the stroke studies, the pooled sensitivity was 0.86 (95% CI 0.77–0.92) and the pooled specificity was 0.89 (95% CI 0.83–0.93). The methodological quality of studies varied but was moderate to good
overall.
Conclusions: The 4AT shows good diagnostic test accuracy for delirium in the 17 available studies. These findings support
its use in routine clinical practice in delirium detection.