Assessment Scales

• Pre-Hospital Stroke Scale
  1. The Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS)
     • Evaluates: facial droop, arm drift, and speech 
  2. The Lost Angeles pre-hospital stroke screen (LAPSS)
     • Evaluates: facial paresis, hand grip weakness, and arm drift

• Hospital Stroke Scales 
  1. Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) 
     • Measures level of consciousness in patients (developed to assess patients after traumatic injury) 
     • Evaluates: eye-opening, motor, and verbal responses
     • Scale ranges from 3-15 

2. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS)
   • Gold standard and guideline recommended scale 
   • Measure of neurologic deficit to help assess stroke severity
   • Evaluates: Level of consciousness, response to commands, gaze, visual fields, facial movement, motor function, sensory, language including quality of speech, and inattention  
   • Scale ranges from 0 to 42. Higher numbers reflect a higher degree/severity of neurologic deficit. 

3. Modified Rankin Scale (mRS)

• Describes the degree of functional outcome after an individual experiences a stroke 
• Scale ranges from 0 to 6