Citation

Wilde EA, McCauley SR, Kelly TM, Levin H, Pedroza C, Clifton G, Valadka A, Robertson C, Moretti P. J. Neurotrauma 2010; 27(6): 975-981.

Affiliation

Baylor College of Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 1709 Dryden Rd., Ste 725, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030, 713-798-7331, 713-798-6898; ewilde@bcm.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/neu.2009.1193

PMID

20210593

PMCID

PMC2943506

Abstract

This manuscript describes the design and initial implementation of the Neurological Outcome Scale for Traumatic Brain Injury (NOS-TBI) as an adaption of the NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) specifically for clinical and research use in patients with TBI including 1) the addition of items specific to TBI, 2) adjustment to the scoring algorithm to allow quantifications of deficits in patients who are comatose/vegetative, or agitated, and 3) the reassignment of items (i.e., limb ataxia) that are problematic in TBI as supplemental items. The feasibility of using the NOS-TBI is discussed and limitations of the scale are highlighted. This scale offers 1) a cost-effective, brief, practicable, standardized and quantifiable method of communicating and analyzing neurologic deficits in a way that traditional neurologic assessment alone cannot currently provide, and 2) a measure that non-physicians can administer. The NOS-TBI may serve a role in clinical practice in patients with TBI similar to the way the NIHSS has functioned for patients following stroke by serving as a tool for initial stratification of injury severity, and as an outcome measure in randomized clinical trials.

Language: en