Verbal de-escalation techniques have been shown to decrease agitation and reduce the potential for associated violence in the emergency setting .
OBJECTIVE To present the essential guidelines for non-pharmacological management of patients with psychomotor agitation in Brazil .
The Overt Agitation Severity Scale for the objective rating of agitation.
Two studies tested the reliability and validity of the  Overt Agitation Severity Scale ( OASS )  , a new instrument developed to define and objective ly rate the severity of  agitated behavior . The authors postulate that agitation should be conceptualized as vocal and motor behaviors on a continuum of expressions that extends from anxiety to aggression . Content validity through expert agreement was achieved in the development of test construction over a 2-year period . Results of two pilot studies ( n = 25 and n = 14 subjects ) established the reliability and validity of the OASS  to measure agitation severity . The OASS differs from other agitation scales in that it confines its rating exclusively to observable behavioral manifestations of agitation
Verbal de-escalation techniques have been shown to decrease agitation and reduce the potential for associated violence in the emergency setting .
OBJECTIVE To present the essential guidelines for non-pharmacological management of patients with psychomotor agitation in Brazil .