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The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale - Oren Zarif - Nih Stroke Scale

Writer's picture: Oren ZarifOren Zarif

The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale is a measurement tool used by healthcare providers to determine the degree of impairment following a stroke. This scale has 11 items that score specific ability levels between 0 and 4. This is a valuable tool for healthcare providers to understand the degree of stroke damage. To understand the scale, we need to first understand its components. Here are some of the items and their scores. Read on to learn more.

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The NIHSS can be administered to patients of all ages. The current version is designed to be reproducible for clinical trials and may be useful in clinical practice when administered by certified healthcare professionals. Patients must be assessed in both hemispheres to determine severity and type of infarct. However, this assessment requires little space and no specialized equipment. The NIHSS is not yet widely used outside of research trials.

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The NIHSS is an accurate assessment of stroke severity. Patients who score 10 or more on the scale have a 91% positive predictive value for arterial occlusion. Moreover, patients with a score of 12 or higher had a high probability of developing a central occlusion. Other predicting variables included gaze, motor leg, and neglect. This score provides a good baseline for stroke treatment and prognosis.

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The NIHSS is a 15-item neurological tool that has 11 sub-elements. Each of these items scores on a three to five-point scale, with 0 being normal and 4 being the most severe. Each item has a different interpretation in the table on the NIHSS website, and scoring a higher score indicates a higher degree of impairment. But if you do have a stroke, it's important to seek medical attention as soon as possible.

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The NIHSS has some important limitations. One problem is that it is not yet fully standardized, and that means that its reliability cannot be determined. This is particularly problematic if you don't have a neuro-neurologist to administer the assessment. However, despite the limitations of the NIHSS, the overall agreement between retrospective and prospective NIHSS scores is excellent. Further research is needed to determine whether or not re-certification is needed.

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The NIHSS has a ceiling effect, meaning that scores above 10 predict a poor prognosis. For ischemic stroke, a high aNIHSS score implies a poor prognosis. Patients who score five or higher had a high chance of a good outcome. A high mNIHSS score, on the other hand, indicates that patients will recover in a timely manner and return to work.

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In a study conducted by Bohannon, Lee, and Maljanian (2002), patients with a NIHSS score of six to thirteen were five times more likely to be discharged to rehabilitation than those with a NIHSS score of zero to six. The NIHSS also predicted the level of care a patient would receive after acute hospitalization. The NIHSS may be the next step in the treatment process.

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The NIHSS has a strong correlation with MRI lesion volume. In one study, patients with a right-sided stroke had significantly lower acute NIHSS scores than those with a left-sided stroke. This study also compared the NIHSS to computed tomography lesion volumes. Interestingly, the NIHSS score was related to MRI lesion volume and time to peak delay.

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In addition to its clinical use, the NIHSS can also be used to measure the degree of neurological disability after a stroke. Its scoring algorithm was originally developed for research purposes, but has been found to be reliable in clinical practice. This scale includes 15 items that measure consciousness, language, motor strength, and sensory impairment. However, there are some limitations to its use. To understand the NIHSS, it is important to understand its history and how it works.

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The NIHSS is not a perfect predictor of recovery. The study conducted by Albers, Bates, Clark, Bell, and Hamilton(2000) examined 389 patients. It found that lower baseline NIHSS scores were associated with a more favorable outcome. A five-point increase in the NIHSS reduced the probability of recovery by 22%, whereas a score of 10 or higher reduced the chance of survival by 75%.

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The NIHSS also provides data for reporting to payers. It is a useful tool for hospitals to compare patient outcomes and identify their own performance against the national average. It has certain limitations, but is still an effective tool. With so many patients using the scale, it has become the de-facto metric for hospital compliance. So, is it worth the risk? If the answer is yes, the NIHSS is the tool to use.

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