Interpretation:

Scoring reflects the level of neurological disability or functional impairment.

Standardized interview for the mRS (Yes/No questions)

• Are you currently experiencing any troubling or persistent symptoms?

• Are you able to perform your daily work duties and routine activities as you did before?

• Can you still participate in your usual hobbies or recreational activities?

• Do you need help with basic daily tasks like cooking, cleaning, or managing finances?

• Do you require assistance with errands such as grocery shopping or short-distance travel?

• Do you rely on someone else to help you walk or move around safely?

• Do you need support with personal care activities such as eating, bathing, toileting, or dressing?

• Are you mostly confined to bed and dependent on full-time nursing or caregiver support?

mRS Score:

0 – No Symptoms
No signs of disability or residual symptoms.

1 – No Significant Disability
Minor symptoms may be present, but the person can perform all usual activities and duties independently.

2 – Slight Disability
Unable to complete all previous tasks or activities, but still manages personal affairs without assistance.

3 – Moderate Disability
Requires some help with daily activities but can walk unassisted.

4 – Moderately Severe Disability
Cannot walk or care for bodily needs without help from another person.

5 – Severe Disability
Bedridden, incontinent, and fully dependent on nursing care.

6 – Death
Patient has died.

mRS scores at discharge and at follow-up strongly predict patient functional status and longer-term outcomes after stroke. Inter-rater reliability in real clinical settings is moderate-to-good (kappa ~0.55–0.58), reflecting sufficient consistency for observational and registry studies. Structured interview guides can further improve scoring consistency.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10020493/

Use in clinical trials is robust for evaluating therapy effectiveness, with evidence supporting both ordinal and dichotomous scoring analyses. Ordinal analysis relates better to health, economic, and quality of life outcomes compared to dichotomous approaches.

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000006554

The mRS has validated utility-weighted versions for patient-centered outcome reporting and has been applied in studies across various neurological diseases, extending its value beyond stroke.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1539107/full