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ASIA Motor Scale
Availability
Please visit this website for more information about the instrument: ASIA Motor Scale
Classification
Supplemental – Highly Recommended: Chiari I Malformation (CM)
Short Description of Instrument
Purpose: The ASIA Motor Scale is used to illustrate the severity of spinal cord injuries and to help inform the direction of future rehabilitation or recovery. Patients' are graded based on the amount of sensation that can be felt at multiple points on the body (five on the upper limb; five on the lower limb on each side of the body), as well as more general motor function tests.
Comments/Special Instructions
Instructions: The tests should be completed by a physician and filled out within the first 72 hours of the spinal injury.
Scoring
Scale: This scale is rated using a five-point grade, from A to E, wherein the lower the grade the more severe the injury. The scale is as follows:
A (Complete): Complete lack of motor and sensory function below the level of injury (including the anal area)
B (Incomplete): Some sensation below the level of the injury (including anal sensation)
C (Incomplete): Some muscle movement is spared below the level of injury, but 50 percent of the muscles below the level of injury cannot move against gravity.
D (Incomplete): Most (more than 50 percent) of the muscles that are spared below the level of injury are strong enough to move against gravity.
E (Normal): All neurologic function has returned.
Grading: There are 10 key muscles tested (five in the upper limb and five in the lower) on both sides of the body, testing 20 muscles total. This is then scored on a 100-point scale, in which 100 is a perfect score and indicates that the patient has no weaknesses.
Rationale/Justification
This is the most widely used scale to assess motor function and, as such, has been extensively used and validated.
References
Shepherd Center, KPKinteractive, American Trauma Society, National Spinal Cord Injury Association, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. ASIA/ISCoS Exam and Grade. Accessed 6 September 2016: http://www.spinalinjury101.org/details/asia-iscos.
 
Singh, AP. (2014) What Is ASIA Score and How It Helps in Classification of Spinal Injury. Assessed 23 June 2016: http://boneandspine.com/what-is-asia- score-and-how-it-helps-in-classification-of-spinal-injury/.

 

Document last updated July 2019