Severity and functional ability scale for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients: Preliminary results

Abstract

Introduction. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal illness that affects the neurons of the pyramidal tracts and the anterior horn of the spinal cord. Many evaluations methods have been proposed in order to supply better follow-up information of patients as well as improved management of secondary complications. We present, in this study, a new instrument for clinical and rehabilitation follow-up of patients with ALS. Method. We evaluated 96 consecutive patients with diagnosis of ALS, in the University Hospital Antonio Pedro and in the Institute of Neurology Deolindo Couto through the Severity and Functional Ability Scale. Results. This preliminary data allowed us to delineate a 5 domain scale that measure 1) muscle strength myotome specific, 2) functional abilities, 3) swallowing function, and 4) breathing, and 5) disease stage severity. Clinical features and functional manifestations of ALS patients were heterogeneous regarding to the most frequent clinical complications and independence levels. Conclusion. These preliminary results suggest that our 5 domain scale is simple, applicable, not time consuming of, as well as easily reproducible regarding clinical course and prognosis of patients with ALS. Our pilot study grants the next step of our research that includes accuracy, internal validity, reliability, factorial analysis and other needed formal methodological and statistical procedures.