Exam

Short Alcohol Withdrawal Scale

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Short Alcohol Withdrawal Scale, SAWS

  • See Also
  1. Alcohol Abuse
  2. Outpatient Alcohol Withdrawal Protocol
  • Indications
  1. Alcohol Withdrawal symptom monitoring (self rating scale)
    1. See Outpatient Alcohol Withdrawal Protocol
  • Criteria
  1. Anxious
  2. Feeling confused
  3. Restless
  4. Miserable
  5. Memory problems
  6. Tremors or shakes
  7. Nausea
  8. Heart pounding
  9. Sleep disturbance such as Insomnia
  10. Sweating
  • Technique
  1. Patient self-scores the 10 symptom criteria above
  2. Assign each of the criteria with a score of 0-3
    1. Score 0: None
    2. Score 1: Mild
    3. Score 2: Moderate
    4. Score 3: Severe
  • Interpretation
  1. Score <12: Mild Alcohol Withdrawal
  2. Score 12 or more: Moderate to severe Alcohol Withdrawal
  • References
  1. Elholm (2010) Alcohol Alcohol 45(4): 362 [PubMed]