T. Wetterling et al., A NEW RATING-SCALE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE ALCOHOL-WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME (AWS SCALE), Alcohol and alcoholism, 32(6), 1997, pp. 753-760
A new rating scare for the quantitative assessment of the alcohol-with
drawal syndrome (AWS) was developed from the CIWA-A scale by item anal
ysis based on the data from 132 alcoholic patients. The clinical evalu
ation of this AWS scale in a second sample of 256 alcoholic patients s
howed that it adequately assessed the course and severity of the AWS.
The AWS scale provides data for a rational strategy of therapy for the
AWS by rating mental and somatic symptoms on different scales. In par
ticular, the mental subscale allows prediction of a complicated AWS. S
ubjects with an AWS score greater than or equal to 10 at admission hav
e a higher risk of becoming delirious than those with a lower score (4
6.6% vs 2.8%; P < 0.001). In order to minimize the prescription of dru
gs with abuse potential, such as diazepam and clomethiazole, a structu
red treatment programme of in-patient alcohol detoxification based on
the AWS score was also developed. The comparison revealed that, in the
second sample, which was treated following this protocol, the number
of cases given medication was lower and the amount of clomethiazole pr
escribed per patient was less.