Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS)

The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System asks a person to rate nine common symptoms, each from 0 to 10. It covers pain, tiredness, drowsiness, nausea, lack of appetite, shortness of breath, depression, anxiety, and overall wellbeing, with a blank line for anything else that is bothering them.

It was built to capture the patient's own perspective rather than a clinician's estimate, and the revised version asks specifically about how the person feels right now. Because it is quick enough to repeat daily, a team can plot the numbers on a graph and see whether a symptom is responding to treatment. It is one part of a holistic assessment, not a complete symptom evaluation in itself.

• ESAS-r Form, Administration Manual, and User Guide

Licensing Notes: The ESAS-r is freely available for use and can be downloaded.

Learn More: The current version is the ESAS-r. If a caregiver completes it on the patient's behalf, that should be documented, since proxy and patient ratings diverge.