Assessment tools of disability status after stroke
Authors:   Doctoral School, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania, Potcovaru Claudia Gabriela ,   National Institute of Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine and Balneoclimatology, Bucharest, Romania, Salmen Teodor ,   Doctoral School, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania,   “N. C. Paulescu” National Institute for Diabetes Mellitus, Nutrition and Metabolic Disorders, Bucharest, Romania, Chitu Marius Costin ,   Doctoral School, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania,   “Matei Bals” National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Bucharest, Romania, Dima Vlad ,   Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Neonatology, Filantropia Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, Mihai Margareta Bianca ,   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Filantropia Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania, Bohiltea Roxana Elena ,   Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Filantropia Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania, Cinteza Delia ,   Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, National Institute of Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine and Balneoclimatology, Bucharest, Romania, Berteanu Mihai ,   Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Elias Emergency Universitary Hospital, Bucharest, Romania
Published: November 2022

Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. The global incidence of stroke has increased in recent years, although low and middle-income countries have been heavily affected. Because of the complicated and diversified physical and emotional disruption, stroke survivors are likely to face a variety of difficulties in daily life activities. Because of the wide impact of a stroke on all body structures and functions, there is no gold standard instrument to evaluate impairment and all elements of recovery after a stroke, and there is no single scale that can capture all the effects of a stroke. The International Classification of Impairments, Disability, and Handicaps (ICIDH) categorized the consequences of the diseases into three categories: impairment, disability, and handicap. Using the biopsychosocial model in 2001 WHO defines and classifies disability by using International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). The ICF divides the impairment into three categories: body function and structure, activity, and participation. This article aims to review the most important tools that are reliable and valid in assessing the disability left after a stroke: The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Barthel index (BI), The modified Rankin scale (mRS), Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), Glasgow outcome scale (GOS), The Functional Independence Measure (FIM), The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0). The WHODAS 2.0 questionnaire is validated in several countries and it would be useful to be validated, also, in our country.