Seniors, disabled individuals, and patients with chronic illnesses usually struggle in performing their activities of daily living due to their deteriorated health. They usually need verbal and physical assistance to complete their daily affairs. They also require aid for medication administration, wound care, and IV therapy. Therefore, long-term care providers, such as home health care and rehabilitation centers, offer skilled and unskilled nursing services to help them in all their medical and non-medical needs. However, sometimes, it is difficult for long-term care providers to determine the specific needs of patients and so they face difficulty in creating the best care plans for them according to their health needs. That’s where the Barthel Index (BI) comes into the scenario. 

What is the Barthel Index?

The Barthel Index is a scale or method to measure the ability of a patient to perform activities of daily living. The measurement is done based on ten variables, including:

  • Eating 
  • Bathing 
  • Dressing
  • Transferring 
  • Ambulation
  • Grooming 
  • Stair Climbing
  • Toileting
  • Bladder Control 
  • Continence

This index is commonly used in rehabilitation centers and home health care to assess patients’ health conditions and health improvement. The physicians closely observe and monitor patients based on ADLs within a time frame. They analyze whether patients are capable of doing their daily affairs independently or they need some sort of assistance. 

Patients with chronic diseases, patients with neuromuscular disorders, oncology patients, disabled individuals, and the elderly are the candidates for Barthel measurement. 

Method of Measurement 

Barthel Index is administered by trained physicians and therapists based on the given instructions. The patients are given a certain time, usually 20-30 minutes, to perform the given tasks and they need to complete the tasks within the given time. However, the time can vary depending on patients’ capabilities. 

The physician observes the patients’ ability of mobility throughout the time they perform ADLs and gives them scores based on their performance. They give scores to the patients for each activity of daily living performed by them. 

Barthel Index Scoring Method

The scoring method includes three items ordinal scoring where “0” indicates total dependency, “1” indicates needs help, and “2” indicates independence. So, if a patient receives “0” in a particular ADL, it means he/she is dependent or almost completely unable to perform that particular activity. But if he gets “1” or “2” in a particular activity, he is in a relatively better health condition. He can perform that particular activity with some assistance (if he receives “1”) or he can do it completely independently (if he receives “2”) 

The final score is given out of 100 and calculated by multiplying the scores by 5. The patients who receive a score between 0 and 20 are the severe cases. They cannot perform ADLs at all without physical assistance. These cases come under “total dependency.” The score ranging between 21-60 indicates “severe dependency” which means the patients can do movements, but they can’t move much without physical assistance. The patients who receive a score ranging between 61 and 90 are far better in health, but they still need some sort of physical or verbal assistance. They come under the “moderate dependency” category. Lastly, the score of 90 or above indicates “slight dependency.” If a patient gets more than 90 scores, it indicates that he is capable of performing ADLs but may require some help. 

Reliability

According to many research papers and physicians, Barthel Index is a reliable method to assess the health condition of a patient with certain chronic illnesses and disabilities. It shows the results accurately. Therefore, it is a useful tool not only for assessing the level of severity in patients but also in creating effective care plans for them which aim at quicker healing, recovery, and improved care. 

In the end, we would suggest you visit the Medical Algorithm website to learn more and get deep knowledge and understanding of Barthel Index. You can also learn about many commonly used medical terms in healthcare.