DMC — Delirium Motoric Checklist

What this tool is and how to interpret its evidence

The Delirium Motoric Checklist is a 30-item research checklist created by combining motor features from earlier delirium subtyping schemes. It contains 21 hyperactive and nine hypoactive observations rated over the preceding 24 hours. Its purpose was to provide a broad, non-redundant item pool for studying motor phenomenology rather than to serve as the final concise clinical subtype instrument.

Meagher and colleagues applied the checklist to 100 patients with delirium and comparison participants. Subsequent factor analysis identified a smaller set of features that formed the 11-item Delirium Motor Subtype Scale. DMC is therefore an important direct precursor to DMSS, and omitting it while listing both DMSS and DMSS-4 leaves the family history incomplete.

The record belongs in historical or research context under the delirium motor family. It should not add a new current-tool family count. A page can state the 30-item composition, hyperactive and hypoactive split, 24-hour observation frame and role in DMSS derivation without reproducing all checklist statements. Motor subtype tools characterise an established delirium episode; they do not independently diagnose delirium. Medication, sedation, illness severity and mobility restrictions can also influence observed motor behaviour and should be considered when interpreting any subtype classification.