Comparative interrater reliability of Asian Stroke Disability Scale, modified Rankin Scale and Barthel Index in patients with brain infarction

Background: this study tried to develop an asian stroke disability scale (asds) and compared its interrater reliability with modified rankin scale (mrs) and barthel index (bi). methods: three items including self-care, mobility, and daily activities were selected as variables for development of the asds. the variables were provisionally graded on a 2- to 4- point scale based on the importance of each item. each of the variables was categorized into 3 categories. afterward, 125 rater-patient assessments for each scale (mrs, bi, and asds) were performed on 25 stroke patients by 5 raters. for categorization of functional impairment as minor or major, the scores of mrs, bi and asds were categorized as ≤ 2 and > 2, < 90 and ≥ 90, and < 3 and ≥ 3, respectively. 125 rater-patient assessments for each of the mrs, bi, and asds were performed on 25 stroke patients by five raters. results: the quantitative variability of bi, mrs, and asds scores was not significant(p = 0.379; p = 0.780; and p = 0.835, respectively). interrater variability of mrs, bi, and asds scores based on qualitative categorization was not significant (p = 1.000; p = 0.978; and p = 0.901, respectively). paired interrater variability of mrs, bi, and asds scores based on qualitative categorization was not significant (p > 0.05). conclusion: the asds is easy to use, requires less than 1 minute to complete and is as valid as mrs and bi in assessment of functional impairment of patients with stroke.