Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation (OAA/S) Scale

The Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation Scale can be used to evaluate the degree of alertness in patients undergoing sedation.

Categories of observations:

(1) responsiveness (to calling the patient's name and/or using physical stimuli)

(2) speech (while asking the patient to repeat a standard sentence, such as "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.")

(3) facial expression (degree of facial relaxation)

(4) eyes (ability of subject to focus eyes, ptosis)

Category	Observation	Score Level
responsiveness	responds readily to name spoken in normal tone	5
	lethargic response to name spoken in normal tone	4
	responds only after name is called loudly and/or repeatedly	3
	responds only after mild prodding or shaking	2
	does not respond to mild prodding or shaking	1
speech	normal	5
	mild slowing or thickening	4
	slurring or prominent slowing	3
	few recognizable words	2
facial expression	normal	5
	mild relaxation	4
	marked relaxation (slack jaw)	3
eyes	clear, no ptosis	5
	glazed, or mild ptosis (less than half the eye)	4
	glazed and marked ptosis (half of the eye or more)	3

composite score level =

= MIN(responsiveness, speech, facial expression, eyes)

Interpretation:

• A score of 1 indicates deep sleep.

• A score of 5 indicates alert.

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