BioPsychoSocial Assessment Tools for the Elderly - Assessment Summary Sheet

Test: Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS)

Year: 1968

Domain: Biological

Assessment Tool Category: General Physical Health

Variations/Translations: Modified Cumulative Illness Rating Scale

Setting: Long term care

Method of Delivery: Survey completed by clinician

Description: This scale is used to indicate the health status of frail, institutionalized older adults. Clinicians rate the pathology and impairment of major organ systems and also psychological, metabolic, neurological and musculoskeletal aspects of the individual. The CIRS consists of 14 aspects of health which are rated from 1 (no impairment to that organ/ system) to 5 (impairment is life threatening).

Scoring/Interpretation: Each aspect of health receives a score from 1 to 5 which touches on the level of impairment (none, interferes with normal activity, disabling or life threatening); treatment (none, not indicated, needed, urgently needed or of no avail) and prognosis (none, excellent, good, guarded or grave). The ratings of severity for each aspect are assigned based on guidelines and questions specific to each section.

Time to Administer: N/A

Availability: Contact authors

Software: N/A

Website: Modified version - http://college.usc.edu/labs/scrap/documents/cirs.prn.pdf

Quantitative/Qualitative: Quantitative

Validity (Quantitative): Refer to reference by Parmalee et al.

Reliability (Quantitative): CIRS has good inter-rater reliability, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.55 to 0.91.

References:

Conwell, Y., Forbes, N. T., Cox, C., & Caine, E. D. (1993). Validation of a measure of physical illness burden at autopsy: the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 41(1), 38–41.

Hudon, C., Fortin, M., & Vanasse, A. (2005). Cumulative Illness Rating Scale was a reliable and valid index in a family practice context. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 58(6), 603-608.

Linn, B.S., Linn, M. W., & Gurel, L. (1968). Cumulative Illness Rating Scale. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 16(5), 622-626.

Miller, M. D., Paradis, C. F., Houck, P. R., Mazumdar, S., Stack, J. A., Rifai, A. H., Mulsant, B., & Reynolds, C. F. (1992). Rating chronic medical illness burden in geropsychiatric practice and research: Application of the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale. Psychiatry Research, 41(3), 237-248.

Parmalee, P. A., Thuras, P.D., Katz, I. R., & Lawton, M. P. (1995). Validation of the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale in a geriatric residential population. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 43, 130-137.

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