Behavioral Medicine – Substance Use Disorders Practice Test

The main idea is that CIWA-Ar measures alcohol withdrawal severity by listing specific withdrawal symptoms, not other medical problems. CIWA-Ar includes nausea/vomiting, tremor, visual disturbances, tactile disturbances, anxiety, agitation, sweating, headache, and orientation changes. Hypoglycemia is not part of this withdrawal symptom checklist; it’s a metabolic emergency that needs its own glucose assessment and treatment outside of the CIWA-Ar scoring. So hypoglycemia is not a CIWA-Ar symptom, whereas nausea/vomiting, tremor, and visual disturbances are. If hypoglycemia is suspected, check glucose and treat promptly, independently of the CIWA-Ar score.