Table 1.

National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale.

	Category	Description	Score
1A	Level of consciousness	Alert	0
		Drowsy	1
		Stuporous	2
		Coma	3
1B	Level of consciousness—questions	Answers both correctly	0
		Answers one correctly	1
		Answers both incorrectly	2
1C	Loss of consciousness—commands	Performs both tasks correctly	0
		Performs one task correctly	1
		Performs neither task correctly	2
2	Best gaze	Normal	0
		Partial gaze palsy: can be overcome	1
		Partial gaze palsy: corrects with oculocephalic reflex	1
		Forced gaze palsy: cannot be overcome	2
3	Visual fields	No visual loss	0
		Partial hemianopia	1
		Complete hemianopia	2
		Bilateral hemianopia	3
4	Facial Palsy	Normal symmetric movements	0
		Minor paralysis	1
		Partial paralysis	2
		Complete paralysis of one or both sides	3
5A	Left Arm Motor Drift	No drift	0
		Drift	1
		Some effort against gravity	2
		No effort against gravity	3
		No movement	4
5B	Right Arm Motor Drift	No drift	0
		Drift	1
		Some effort against gravity	2
		No effort against gravity	3
		No movement	4
6A	Left Leg Motor Drift	No drift	0
		Drift	1
		Some effort against gravity	2
		No effort against gravity	3
		No movement	4
6B	Right Leg Motor Drift	No drift	0
		Drift	1
		Some effort against gravity	2
		No effort against gravity	3
		No movement	4
7	Limb Ataxia	Absent	0
		Present in one limb	1
		Present in two limbs	2
8	Sensation	Normal; no sensory loss	0
		Mild-to-moderate sensory loss	1
		Severe-to-total sensory loss	2
9	Best Language	No aphasia; normal	0
		Mild-to-moderate aphasia	1
		Severe aphasia	2
		Mute; global aphasia	3
10	Dysarthria	Normal	0
		Mild-to-moderate dysarthria	1
		Severe dysarthria	2
11	Extinction/Inattention	No abnormality	0
		Visual, tactile, auditory, spatial, or personal inattention	1
		Profound hemi-inattention or extinction	2
Total Score = 0 to 42