Karnofsky Performance Status

Acest instrument este destinat exclusiv scopurilor educaționale și nu constituie consultație de specialitate sau substitut pentru consultațiile de specialitate. Instrumentul nu trebuie folosit pentru diagnosticarea medicală și/sau acordarea tratamentului medical corespunzător.

General description
Performance status, a measure of a patient's functional capacity, is frequently used to estimate the prognosis of individual patients and to select or stratify patients for clinical trials of anticancer therapies.
The most commonly used scales that can be used to quantify the performance status are the Karnofsky Performance Status, consisting of 11 stages ranging from 100 (normal health) to 0 (death) and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, a five-grade performance scale ranging from 0 (fully active) to 5 (death).

Criteria:
100 % – Normal; no complaints; no evidence of disease.
90 % – Able to carry on normal activity; minor signs or symptoms of disease.
80 % – Normal activity with effort; some signs or symptoms of disease.
70 % – Cares for self. Unable to carry on normal activity or to do active work.
60 % – Requires occasional assistance, but is able to care for most of his needs.
50 % – Requires considerable assistance and frequent medical care.
40 % – Disabled; requires special care and assistance.
30 % – Severely disabled; hospitalization is indicated although death not imminent.
20 % – Very sick; hospitalization necessary; active supportive treatment necessary.
10 % – Moribund; fatal processes progressing rapidly.
0 % – Dead.

Definitions:
80 %–100 %: Able to carry on normal activity and to work. No special care is needed.
50 %–70 %: Unable to work. Able to live at home, care for most personal needs. A varying amount of assistance is needed.
0 %–40 %: Unable to care for self. Requires equivalent of institutional or hospital care. Disease may be progressing rapidly.

0 – Fully active, able to carry on all pre-disease performance without restriction.
1 – Restricted in physically strenuous activity but ambulatory and able to carry out work of a light or sedentary nature, e.g., light house work, office work.
2 – Ambulatory and capable of all selfcare but unable to carry out any work activities; up and about more than 50 % of waking hours.
3 – Capable of only limited selfcare; confined to bed or chair more than 50 % of waking hours.
4 – Completely disabled; cannot carry on any selfcare; totally confined to bed or chair.
5 – Dead.

Karnofsky, David, et al. “The Use of the Nitrogen Mustards in the Palliative Treatment of Carcinoma with Particular Reference to Bronchogenic Carcinoma.” Cancer, vol. 1, no. 4, (1948): 634–656.

Oken, M M et al. “Toxicity and response criteria of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.” American journal of clinical oncology vol. 5,6 (1982): 649-55.