RADAR: Recognizing Acute Delirium As part of your Routine

2015

Three-item tool completed by nursing staff during medication rounds; developed for feasibility and acceptability in busy settings.

Classification

Episodic assessment Monitoring for new onset delirium

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Original paper

Original paperVoyer P, Champoux N, Desrosiers J, Landreville P, McCusker J, Monette J, et al. Recognizing acute delirium as part of your routine [RADAR]: a validation study. BMC nursing. 2015;14:19. doi: 10.1186/s12912-015-0070-1. PMID: 25844067.
This paper reports the original validation of RADAR. It is the main source for the method, its intended use and the evidence available at publication.
Open PubMed ↗Download article PDF ↓
Article PDF: CC BY. This licence applies to the article PDF and does not grant rights to reproduce the tool.

Multiple DTA studies identifiedCore instrument family

Preview of the RADAR weekly nursing observation chart — RADAR (Recognizing Acute Delirium As part of your Routine), Voyer P, Champoux N, Desrosiers J, Landreville P, McCusker J, Monette J, Savoie M, Richard S and Carmichael PH, supplementary material to BMC Nursing 2015;14:19, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-015-0070-1, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Preview converted from DOCX and resized for web display.

At a glance

Purpose: Episodic assessment
Population: Adult
Setting: General / acute hospital, Long-term / care home
Time: ~7 sec
Items: 3
Score or threshold: RADAR positive (participant-level collapse)

Format: Usually presented as a landscape weekly observation chart. Three yes/no nursing observations are recorded at medication rounds across several days, with spaces for date, time, and staff initials.

Evidence

Evidence maturityMultiple DTA studies identified

Reported sensitivity and specificity

73%

Sensitivity

67%

Specificity

Original validation, n=193; vs DSM-IV-TR.

More evidence and citation details

Full name: Recognizing Acute Delirium As part of your Routine
Also known as: RADAR
Related profiles: RMA
Evidence summary: multi
Diagnostic-accuracy studies: 3
Reference standard: Independent research-assistant delirium classification using repeated CAM, Hierarchic Dementia Scale, chart, family and staff information over seven hours
Citation: Voyer P, Champoux N, Desrosiers J, Landreville P, McCusker J, Monette J, Savoie M, Richard S, Carmichael PH Recognizing acute delirium as part of your routine [RADAR]: a validation study BMC nursing. 2015;14:19. PMID 25844067

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Version: Supplementary RADAR observation chart (2015)
Rights holder: Voyer and co-authors; no separate third-party rights notice was identified for the supplement
Licence: CC-BY-4.0 ↗
Information checked: 2026-07-19

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Sources checked 2026-07-29. How profiles are prepared.