CCS & ADS: Communication Capacity Scale & Agitation Distress Scale
2001Two paired observer-rated measures for communication capacity and agitation distress in terminally ill cancer patients with delirium. They quantify selected consequences and symptoms; they are not delirium screening tools.
Classification
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Tool and original sources
This record describes a method rather than a downloadable bedside form. The main source is linked below.
Original paper
- Original paperMorita T, Tsunoda J, Inoue S, Chihara S, Oka K. Communication Capacity Scale and Agitation Distress Scale to measure the severity of delirium in terminally ill cancer patients: a validation study. Palliative medicine. 2001;15(3):197-206. doi: 10.1191/026921601678576185. PMID: 11407191.
This paper reports the original validation of CCS & ADS. It is the main source for the method, its intended use and the evidence available at publication.
At a glance
- Purpose
- Measurement of delirium severity
- Population
- Adult
- Setting
- Palliative care
- Time
- under 5-10 min; ADS uses the most severe presentation across a 12-hour observation period
Format: CCS contains five ratings and yields 0-17; ADS contains six ratings and yields 0-18 from the worst presentation across observation. The complete rating anchors should be obtained from the publication or NIDUS card.
Evidence
Reported metric context
Severity scales; internal consistency alpha 0.91 and 0.96 (n=30).
More evidence and citation details
- Full name
- Communication Capacity Scale & Agitation Distress Scale
- Also known as
- CCS, ADS, Communication Capacity Scale, Agitation Distress Scale
- Evidence summary
- single-psychometric-validation
- Reference standard
- Palliative-care physician DSM-IV delirium diagnosis at first assessment; delirium diagnosed only from medication use was counted as absent
- Citation
- Morita T, Tsunoda J, Inoue S, Chihara S, Oka K Communication Capacity Scale and Agitation Distress Scale to measure the severity of delirium in terminally ill cancer patients: a validation study Palliative medicine. 2001;15(3):197-206. PMID 11407191
Copyright and reuse
- Information checked
- 2026-07-19
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Sources checked 2026-07-29. How profiles are prepared.