“Alert and oriented times four.” The standard field test for mental alertness, comprised of four simple questions. If the patient can verbally state their name, their location, the day or date and accurately describe their situation, they are said to be alert and oriented times four. A score of less than 3 indicates some degree of disorientation and diminished awareness. A score less than 3 also legally constitutes “implied consent” for medical treatment, important in cases where patients are resistant to care, belligerent, confused or unconscious and informed consent to treatment cannot be obtained. This is a field test. Other scoring systems (such as the Glasgow Coma Scale) are considered definitive and are used for making treatment decisions.
(Definition provided by author.)