NIH STROKE SCALE EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2024/2025

How many items on the NIH stroke scale? - ANS-11 NIH Stroke scale is - ANS-an 11-item clinical evaluation instrument widely used in clinical trials and practice to assess neurologic outcome and degree of recovery from stroke. NIH Stroke Scale is used to quantify the effects of acute cerebral ischemia on levels of ... (7 items) - ANS-levels of: consciousness vision motor function (facial and extremities) cerebellar function sensation language extinction or inattention NIH SS is used to measure patient's status after a stroke and to assess the outcome after - ANS-treatment Should the patient be coached? Should you go back and rethink a particular assessment? - ANS-NO Having what when using NIH scale is important? - ANS-reference materials DO NOT RATE what you think the patient wants to do or what you think they can do, RATE ONLY - ANS-rate only what they actually do use patient"s first response? - ANS-YES - DO NOT USE SUMMARY OF RESPONSES re ataxia score 1- if real weak, assume ataxia score is... 2- if they can hold leg or arm up w/ minimal drift but are all over place when trying finger to nose test, that's probably... 4) if patient very weak or paralyzed, the ataxia score is... - ANS-1) 0 2) ataxia 3) 1 or 2 4) 0 You should only score loss of sensation if you can really demonstrate... - ANS-that they have loss of sensation if patient has sensory loss from neuropathy, do you count thatt? - ANS-no, but you do if there's loss on top of the neuropathy aphasia is difficult because it can take a while to go through the battery and it can be subjective as to whether it is one of which classification? - ANS-mild, mod, severe start to recognise aphasia when you meet them and start talking and you don't get a history of... - ANS-what happened dysarthria is interesting because there are many cultural things about slurred ? - ANS-speech. Score is associated with prognosis? - ANS-YES Is NIH scale a measure of disability? - ANS-NO. The NIH scale is a measure of impairments. The NIH scale creates a common currency so that everybody understands the patient's level of... - ANS-deficit, by giving a number that communicates to other professionals how sick the patient is how much time to budget to perorm NIH scale - ANS-7-10 mins What effort should be recorded? Do not do what? - ANS-The patient's first effort. Don't go back and change scores. IMPORTANT CONVENTIONS IN ADMINISTRATION: Administer scale items in their exact -Avoid ing patient -Accept patient's effort -Score only what the patient -Be consistent s - ANS--order -coaching -first -does -Be consistent -previous strokes ITEM 1a and how to get it - ANS--examiner's overall impression of patient alertness -ask 2-3 questions about circumstances of admission, stimuate patient by patting or tapping, occasionally pinching NIH Item 1a Scoring: 0 1 2 3 - ANS--Alert -Not alert, aroused w/ minor verbal stim -Not alert, requires strong or painful stim -Only reflexive movements or totally unresponsive ITEM 1a - patient w/ 3 on this item is generally considered to be in... 3 is scored ONLY if patient makes no movement other than.... - ANS-a coma reflexive posturing in response to noxious stimulation If difficult to determine 1 vs 2 in item 1a, continue with... - ANS-medical hx qs until confident in assigning a score - THIS IS ONLY TIME IN NIH scale where you can go back EVEN IF PRESENTED WITH OBSTACLES OR BARRIERS, YOU MUST CHOOSE A - ANS-SCORE NIH Item 1B based on responses to two items: When? -What about patient - ANS--month of year -patient's age ITEM 1B SCORING 0 1 2 - ANS--answers both qs correctly -answers 1 q correctly OR patients unable to communicate d/t intubation, oral-tracheal trauma, severe dysarthria from any cause, language barrier, or any issue not secondary to aphasia -answers neither question correctly --> a 3 on 1a must be a 2 on 1b A patient that cannot speak but is otherwise able to communicate can be allowed to convey the answer how? - ANS-writing If the patient answers incorrectly first and then corrects self, how is the answer scored? - ANS-it is still scored as incorrect What if patient gives DOB as answer to question asking for their age? How is this scored?