ABS (Agitated Behaviour Scale)

ABS forms measure how present 14 behaviour types are in a patient whilst they’re being observed, from absent through to extreme. Answer each question with your best estimate.

1. Recording an ABS

  1. Open a new ABS form by either:

    1. Holding Alt (or ‘Option’ on Mac) and pressing B from anywhere within Melo

    2. Opening the side navigation bar and clicking “+ABS”

  2. Populate the form with:

    1. A patient

    2. Rank how present the 14 behaviours are using this scale:

      1. Absent Behaviour is not present

      2. Slight Behaviour is slightly present, but they can bring themselves back to an appropriate behaviour for the context without needing help

      3. Moderate Patient needs to be redirected back to an appropriate behaviour

      4. Extreme Patient is unable to engage in appropriate behaviour, even when others attempt to help

      5. N/A You’re unable to answer (e.g. a bedbound patient can’t wander the halls)

    3. Observation start and end times

    4. Location of observation

    5. Other comments (any other details that might increase understanding of this behaviour and help prevent it in future)

  3. Click “Submit”

2. Analysing the data

Behaviour over time chart

  • Dots represent submissions. The horizontal position represents the time (observation-end) and the vertical position and colour represents the severity score and banding (e.g. Normal, Mild, Moderate, or Severe)

  • Key events button allows you to annotate timestamps on the graph. This can be useful to highlight how changes in care affect the behavioural lines.

Severity spread

This chart shows the what proportion of submissions are what severity (respecting any filters set).

Change in behaviour

This chart shows how each of the 14 ABS behaviours are different between the most recent and the earliest submissions in the timeframe chosen (respecting any filters set). For example, selecting a 14 day window containing 5 ABS observations (observation time, not submission time), would show how the fifth observation compares with the first. Red dotted bars show that the later submission showed increased levels of these behaviours, green bars show a reduction.

Recent behaviour

This chart shows the 14 ABS behaviours as a barchart from the most recent submission in the timeframe chosen. The blue markers show the mean average presence level for each behaviour, exluding the most recent submission (respecting any filters set).

Next steps