Relationship between the modified Rankin Scale and the Barthel Index in the process of functional recovery after stroke
NeuroRehabilitation, 06/26/2012

Cioncoloni D et al. – Maximum sensitivity of mRS in differentiating functional recovery is reached at six months post–stroke.

• Ninety-two patients with first stroke and hemispheric brain lesion were evaluated using the BI and mRS at 10 days, 3 and 6 months.
• The Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to examine median differences in BI among the mRS levels at 10 days, 3 and 6 months with Dunn's correction for multigroup comparison.
• The Mann and Whitney test was used to compare median differences in BI scores between two aggregations of mRS grades (mRS=0-2, mRS=3-5) at the same time periods after stroke.

• BI score distribution amongst mRS grades overlapped at 10 days, differentiating only between extreme grades (no disability vs severe disability).
• At 3 months, independent patients with slight disability could be distinguished from dependent patients with marked disability.
• At 6 months, grade 2 and 3 overlapped no more, differentiating independence (class 0-2) from dependence (class 3-5).
• The largest transition to an independent functional status occurred from grade 4, at 3 months.