Development of a rating scale for quantitative measurement of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

The alcohol withdrawal syndrome consists of autonomic, neurological and mental symptoms. For its assessment, these symptoms have to be rated in a quantitative and valid manner. We developed a new rating scale for mild and moderate alcohol withdrawal states. Difficulty, discrimination coefficient, internal consistency, and the principal component analysis were assessed. External validation was tested on a separate sample of inpatients. Eight of 12 original items fulfilled test-theoretical criteria. From these a psychosensory and an autonomic factor have been extracted. This instrument can be used repeatedly for clinical assessment as well as for evaluation of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome in clinical drug studies.