A&O assessment
English
Etymology
An abbreviation of alert and oriented (A&O) + assessment.
Noun
A&O assessmentCategory:English lemmas#A&OASSESSMENTCategory:English nouns#A&OASSESSMENTCategory:English multiword terms#A&OASSESSMENTCategory:English terms spelled with &#A&OASSESSMENTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#A&OASSESSMENTCategory:Pages with entries#A&O%20ASSESSMENTCategory:Pages with 1 entry#A&O%20ASSESSMENT
- (medicineCategory:en:Medicine#A&OASSESSMENT) A medical assessment used to evaluate a person's alertness and mental status, incorporating open-ended questions that assess a person's memory and thinking abilities; more detailed than the AVPU scale.
- Coordinate term: alert and oriented
Usage notes
The term is most commonly used in emergency situations and when assessing dementia patients.
Further reading
- 2025. Heerema, Esther. "What 'Alert and Oriented' Means in Emergency and Dementia Care" verywellhealth.com.