Cincinnati Scale

Rapid Assessment for Suspected Stroke

The Cincinnati Scale is a prehospital instrument that rapidly assesses the probability of a Stroke in patients by observing three main clinical signs:

  1. Facial Droop: ask the patient to smile. Asymmetry indicates an abnormality.
  2. Arm Drift: ask to lift both arms. Drooping indicates an abnormality.
  3. Abnormal Speech: ask to repeat a phrase. Difficulty indicates an abnormality.

If at least one sign is abnormal, there is a 72% probability of a Stroke.

Clinical Signs Normal Abnormal
Facial Droop Normal Abnormal
Arm Drift Normal Abnormal
Abnormal Speech Normal Abnormal
Bibliographic Reference:

Kothari, B. R., Pancioli, A., Liu, T., Brott, F., & Broderick, J. (1999). Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale: reproducibility and validity. Stroke, 30(2), 336-340.