This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Ravnborgl, M. Articles by Jønsson, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ravnborgl, M. Articles by Jønsson, A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The MS impairment scale: a pragmatic approach to the assessment of impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis

The Copenhagen MS Clinic, the National University Hospital, Copenhagen, DK-2100, The MS Hospital in Haslev, DK-4690, Denmark

M. Grønbech-Jensen

The MS Hospital in Haslev, DK-4690, Denmark

A. Jønsson

The Copenhagen MS Clinic, the National University Hospital, Copenhagen, DK-2100

We developed a measurement scale for assessment of impairment in MS patients (MSIS) in accordance with the recommandations of WHO. The items were kept close to a standard neurologic examination, and a short battery of cognitive tests was added. Normality was assigned to the value, zero, and the theoretical maximum score was 204. Two-hundred and ten multiple sclerosis (MS) patients were rated by one neurologist on the MS Impairment Scale (MSIS), the Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS), and the Ambulation Index (AI). The median MSIS score was 52 (5- 147), the median EDSS 6.5 (1 - 9.5), and the median Al 5 (1-5). The relation between the MSIS scores and the EDSS was best described by an exponential function (non-linear regression coefficient, R=0.87). Sixty-two of the patients were reexamined and rated by another neurologist The interrater reliability coefficient (R) of the MSIS was 0.95, of the EDSS 0.91, and of the Al 0.94. Forty patients were examined twice by the first neurologist The intrarater reliability coefficient was 0.97 for the MSIS, 0.95 for the EDSS, and 0.98 for the Al. The MSIS is easy to use and is robust to observer dissimilarities. It has a monomodal univariate distribution and has a better discriminatory power than the EDSS, especially in the EDSS range 6 - 9, while the interrater reliability of the MSIS is at least as good as that of the EDSS and the Al.

Key Words: multiple sclerosis • impairment • clinical assessment • reliability • validity

Multiple Sclerosis, Vol. 3, No. 1, 31-41 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/135245859700300104


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?