Understanding the UKU Side Effect Rating Scale: A Guide for Clinicians

The Udvalg for Kliniske Undersøgelser (UKU) Side Effect Rating Scale is a comprehensive, clinician-rated scale, designed to assess the side effects in patients treated with psychotropic medications. The UKU was designed to be both comprehensive, yet easy to use, by both clinical practices and clinical trials.

• UKU helps assess side effects of psychotropic drugs

Considerations

• The UKU was designed to be administered by trained mental health professionals. The UKU contains information obtained via interviews with the patient, as well as observations made by the clinician.

Time Frame

• Ratings assessed by the UKU are typically made on a 'here and now' basis. In some instances, the ratings may be assessed based on the previous three or more days.

Size

• The UKU consists of 48 questions. A rating can typically be assessed within 30 minutes.

Features

• Assessments are typically made after a semi-structured interview process. Each point in the UKU is addressed, but not necessarily in the order in which they appear on the UKU.

Identification

• Each point on the UKU is assigned a degree of zero, one, two or three. Zero indicates normal; one indicates mild symptoms; two indicates moderate symptoms; and three indicates severe symptoms.