A four item scale based on gait for the immediate global assessment of acutely ill medical patients – one look is more than 1000 words

BackgroundDocumentation of the global assessment of acutely ill medical patients is time consuming and may detract from patient care.SettingSmall Irish rural hospital.MethodsThe clinical information required for the global assessment of 2954 patients attending the Medical Assessment Unit in a small rural hospital was collected for analysis in a computer database.ResultsA four item scale based on whether the patients had a Stable gait, Unstable gait, needed Help to walk or was Bedridden (i.e. SUHB scale) was strongly correlated with 30-day in-hospital mortality, mental status, history of falls, manual handling requirements, and the presence of pressure sores, dementia and incontinence. The c statistics of the SUHB scale for 30-day in-hospital mortality, mental status, history of falls, manual handling requirements, and the presence of pressure sores, dementia and incontinence were 0.85, 0.79, 0.79, 0.94, 0.80, 0.86 and 0.88, respectively.ConclusionA four item scale of gait instantly captures almost as much information as detailed documentation.