Designing a Patient Outcome Clinical Assessment Tool for Modified Rankin Scale: “You Feel the Same Way Too”

The Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) is a widely used tool for assessing disability in stroke care; however, its administration is often affected by subjectivity and variability, leading to poor inter-rater reliability and inconsistencies in scoring. Originally designed for hospital discharge evaluations, the mRS has evolved into a tool for disability assessment and clinical decision-making. Inconsistencies persist due to a lack of standardization and cognitive biases during its use. This paper presents design principles for creating a standardized clinical assessment tool (CAT) for the mRS, grounded in human-computer interaction (HCI) and cognitive engineering principles. The proposed design principles aim to reduce cognitive load, improve inter-rater reliability, and streamline the administration process of the mRS. By focusing on usability and standardization, the design seeks to enhance scoring consistency and improve the overall reliability of clinical outcomes in stroke care and research. Developing a standardized CAT for the mRS represents a significant step toward improving the accuracy and consistency of stroke disability assessments. Future work will focus on real-world validation with healthcare stakeholders and exploring self-completed mRS assessments to further refine the tool.