Interrater agreement in evaluation of stroke patients with the unified neurological stroke scale.

Abstract

We sought to determine interrater agreement in evaluation of stroke patients with the Unified Form for Neurological Stroke Scales (UFNSS). Fifty inpatients were independently examined by three neurologists. Kendall coefficients of concordance were computed for the different items of the UFNSS. There was a high concordance among the raters. The best agreements were obtained for motor functions and the worst for grading of eye movements. The UFNSS was shown to be reliable for evaluation of motor functions, verbal communication, orientation, and vigilance in stroke patients.