Repeated Behavioral Assessments in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness

The Coma Recovery Scale Revised (CRS-R) is considered as the most sensitive scale to assess patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). Guidelines recommend repeated assessments because patients might suffer from consciousness fluctuations, but it is not specified how many assessments are needed. The present study included 131 patients with DOC. They have been assessed at least 6 times during a 14-days period with the CRS-R. Results show that 5 CRS-R assessments are needed to reach a reliable diagnosis, and that all the CRS-R subscales are influenced by consciousness fluctuations. We here showed that consciousness fluctuations influence the behavioral diagnosis, and that 5 assessments within a short period of time are needed to get a reliable clinical diagnosis.