Introduction
The Motor Assessment Scale (MAS) is a performance-based scale that was developed as a means of assessing everyday motor function in patients with stroke (Carr, Shepherd, Nordholm, & Lynne, 1985).
Features of the measure
Items:
The MAS is comprised of 8 items corresponding to 8 areas of motor function.
- Supine to side lying
- Supine to sitting over the edge of a bed
- Balanced sitting
- Sitting to standing
- Walking
- Upper-arm function
- Hand movements
- Advanced hand activities.
Patients perform each task 3 times and the best performance is recorded.
Also included is a single item, general tonus, intended to provide an estimate of muscle tone on the affected side (Carr et al., 1985).
Equipment:
Although a number of items are required to administer the MAS, the equipment is easy to acquire. The following equipment is needed:
- Stopwatch
- Eight Jellybeans
- Polystyrene cup
- Stool
- Rubber ball
- Comb
- Spoon
- Pen
- Two Teacups
- Water
- Prepared sheet for drawing lines
- Cylindrical object like a jar
- Table
Scoring:
- All items are assessed using a 7-point scale from 0 – 6. A score of 6 indicates optimal motor behavior. Item scores can be summed to provide an overall score out of a possible 48 points.
- For MAS 1 to 5, completing a higher-level item suggests successful performance on lower-level items and thus lower-items can be skipped.
- The upper limb section (MAS 6-8) should be scored non-hierarchical, meaning that every item within the subsets should be scored regardless of its position within the hierarchy.
- Administration times ranging from 15 to 60 minutes.
Use the following EVALUATION FORM to evaluate your patient and PRINT THE FORM when the evaluation is completed.
References
- Carr, J. H., Shepherd, R. B., Nordholm, L., Lynne, D. (1985). Investigation of a new motor assessment scale for stroke patients. Phys Ther, 65, 175-180.
- Dean, C. M., Mackey, F. M. (1992). Motor assessment scale scores as a measure of rehabilitation outcome following stroke. Aust J Physiother, 38, 31-35.
- English, C. K., Hillier, S. L. (2006). The sensitivity of three commonly used outcome measures to detect change amongst patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation following stroke. Clinical Rehabilitation, 20, 52-55.
- Hsueh, I-P., Hsieh, C-L. (2002).Responsiveness of two upper extremity function instruments for stroke inpatients receiving rehabilitation. Clinical Rehabilitation, 16(6), 617-624.