CIWA-Ar objectifies alcohol withdrawal severity to help guide therapy. It assigns points to each of the 10 criteria. Points are added to get a total score that indicates the degree of withdrawal.
| Score | Withdrawal Level |
|---|---|
| ≤8 | Absent or minimal withdrawal |
| 9-15 | Mild withdrawal |
| 16-20 | Moderate withdrawal |
| >20 | Severe withdrawal |
“The possible range of score is 0–67. A score of 8 points or less indicates mild withdrawal and patients scoring less than 10 do not usually need additional medication for withdrawal. A score of 9 to 15 points indicates moderate withdrawal. A score greater than 15 points indicates severe withdrawal.”
Note: Some sources use the cut-off scores for absent or minimal symptoms as < 8; mild symptoms as 8-15; and the same moderate and severe withdrawal ranges as above.
Reference
Bakhla AK, Khess CRJ, Verma V, Hembram M, Praharaj SK, Soren S. Factor Structure of CIWA-Ar in Alcohol Withdrawal. Journal of Addiction. 2014;2014:745839.