A new method for the rapid assessment of neonatal withdrawal was tested. Three studies with 80 newborns compared the reliability, sensitivity and specificity of the Neonatal Withdrawal Inventory (NWI) with that of the Neonatal Abstinence Scoring System (NASS), a widely used neonatal withdrawal scale. Interrater reliability for raters assessing neonatal withdrawal with the NWI (range, 0.89-0.98) was superior to that demonstrated by the same raters using the NASS (range, 0.70-0.88). With the NASS as the standard, the sensitivity and specificity of the NWI were 100% at syndrome detection and treatment threshold levels. With use of the NWI, the severity of neonatal withdrawal could be accurately assessed in 10 minutes under case-blinded conditions. The NWI's advantages include brevity, ease of administration, and flexibility. The NWI's simplicity and accuracy commend its wider use as a clinical and experimental tool.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.