• Miguel Angel Benítez-Rosario, Manuel Castillo-Padrós, Belen Garrido-Bernet, Toribio González-Guillermo, Luis Pedro Martínez-Castillo, Aceysele González, and Members of the Asocación Canaria de Cuidados Paliativos (CANPAL) Research Network.
• The Palliative Care Unit, NS Candelaria University Hospital, Tenerife, Spain. mabenros@gmail.com
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2013 Jun 1;45(6):1112-9.

ContextA tool to quantify agitation severity and sedation level in patients with advanced cancer is needed.ObjectivesTo test the appropriateness and reliability of the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) in Spanish patients with advanced cancer.MethodsThe original RASS was translated into Spanish according to the standard guidelines. Face validity was assessed by members of the palliative care team, and interrater reliability was assessed, using a weighted kappa, from observations of patients admitted to the palliative care unit. The association between scores of the RASS, Ramsay Sedation Scale, and Glasgow Coma Scale was evaluated using Spearman's ρ.ResultsThree hundred twenty-two observations were performed in 156 patients: 116 observations were performed for delirious patients, 76 observations for sedated patients, and 130 observations for patients admitted for other symptom control. The weighted kappa values were practically equal to or greater than 0.90 between nurses and nurses and physicians. The agreement level between observers for each RASS score was roughly 90%. The correlation between the RASS and the Ramsay and Glasgow Scale values was analyzed for 196 observations recorded in 80 patients. The sedation scale of the RASS had a strong correlation with both the Ramsay (Spearman's ρ, -0.89; P < 0.001) and the Glasgow Coma Scales (Spearman's ρ, 0.85; P < 0.001).ConclusionThese data support the use of the RASS in Spanish patients with advanced cancer.Copyright © 2013 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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