The Withdrawal Syndrome Scale for Alcohol and Related Psychoactive Drugs Inter-Observer Reliability and Construct Validity

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Abstract
The Withdrawal Syndrome Scale (WSA) has been analysed for its construct validity by using the original sample of 293 patients with withdrawal states after alcohol, related psychoactive drugs, or a mixture of alcohol and drugs. Latent structure analysis showed that the seven items of the WSA can be rank-ordered along a single dimension of severity. Hence pulse, tremor, and agitation define the low degrees of withdrawal, whereas increased temperature, sweating, disorientation, and hallucinations define the severe degrees. However, the increased-temperature item was among the low degrees in females and in patients with an age of 50 years or more. The inter-observer reliability of the scale was adequate. The nursing staff found the WSA effective and safe as a guideline for anti-abstinence treatment with phenobarbital.