The Medical Research Council (MRC) Prion Disease Rating Scale (usually referred to as the “MRC Scale”) was developed by modifying and combining elements of three rating scales: the Modified Barthel Activities of Daily Living Index (Barthel), the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes and the Glasgow Coma Score using a statistical technique called item-response or Rasch modelling. The validated linear scale of 20 points can be effectively used by doctors and nurses and can be used over the telephone. The scale is quick and simple to administer. The MRC Scale has been translated into French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish by prion disease specialist physicians. We are grateful for the assistance of Inga Zerr, Claudia Ponto, Pascual Sánchez Juan, Jean-Philippe Brandel, Hidehiro Mizusawa, Pietro Tiraboschi and Fabrizio Tagliavini.
Further information on how the MRC Scale was developed can be found in the publication below:
Thompson et al. (2013) ‘The medical research council prion disease rating scale: a new outcome measure for prion disease therapeutic trials developed and validated using systematic observational studies’, Brain 136, pp.1116-1127.
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