Measurement of alcohol withdrawal in detoxification centre patients

The pattern and severity of alcohol withdrawal in 49 alcohol dependent subjects admitted to the Manchester Detoxification Centre are described. Assessment over 10 days involved the use of the Selected Severity Assessment Scale (SSA) and allocation of patients to subgroups of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. There were associations between tremor, clouding of sensorium, hallucinations and convulsions (items of the SSA) and the four pre-delirious clinical sub-groups identified. We concluded that clinical assessment of the pre-delirious stage took into account these four variables and that there was little value in the routine use of the SSA on a unit such as ours.