Development and Validation of a Daily Monitoring Stroke Scale: A Three-Month Follow up Study

Abstract

Introduction: Stroke is the one of the common health problems world-wide causing significant morbidity and mortality. Various scales are framed and validated for use in stroke trials and clinical use. Most widely used scale for stroke assessment is NIHSS scale but this scale is infrequently used in routine clinical practice. This is because of various limitations like poor representation of posterior circulation deficit and predominant motor and language representation and poor representation of fine motor & cognition deficits in this scale. Objective: Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to formulate a daily monitoring scale which can objectively assess and prognosticate stroke patients. Present study aims to incorporate daily examined parameters in one instrument to develop a routinely useful tool for neurologist and physician which can be simple, fast, reliable, and reproducible. Method: We will include GCS score, brainstem reflexes, gaze, speech, distal and proximal motor power, inattention, ataxia, sensory deficits and gait examination parameters in proposed scale. After initial pilot study (15 patients), we will include developmental cohort (400 patients) and validation cohort (60 patients) to formulate and validate this study. Outcome measures will be 30 -day mortality and morbidity assessed at day 30 and 90 with modified Rankin score and Barthel index. Total patients included will be 460 patients with follow up for 3 months Results: It is expected to develop simple, reliable, and reproducible scale for monitoring of acute stroke patients.