Disability Rating Scale

Abstract

T DISABILITY RATING SCALE (DRS) is an 8-item outcome measure that is one of the more frequently used measures in traumatic brain injury (TBI) research.1 The scale is sometimes referred to as the Rappaport DRS to discriminate the Disability Rating Scale from the Dementia Rating Scale (also abbreviated DRS). The popularity of the DRS is derived from its brief administration time, its usefulness in a large variety of settings or levels of care, its widespread acceptance and use in research, and its free availability in the public domain. The DRS was designed to measure changes in recovery in adults with TBI, where total scores are meant to reflect a level of disability.2 It has been recommended as a useful outcome measure for clinical trials involving individuals with brain injury and is currently classified as a Supplemental Measure within the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Common Data Elements Project (www.commondataelements.ninds.nih. gov). The DRS has also been used to validate other brain injury outcome scales, including the Coma Recovery Scale, Mayo Portland Adaptability Inventory, Supervision Rating Scale, and the Community Integration Questionnaire.3 Because of the brief administration time, one important benefit of the DRS is the efficiency at which it can be administered and the ability for researchers to complete it over the phone. The DRS is also unusual in that it has the ability to describe disability for individuals in a wide variety of settings, from acute care hospitals