Publication:

Difference and efficacy of simplified motor scale compared to Glasgow coma scale

There have been many limitations reported with using the Glasgow coma scale (GCS), including complexity, and being difficult to apply among aphasic, intubated, and pediatric patients. Accordingly, many researchers exerted serious efforts to enhance and modify the scale to make it more applicable and easy to interpret in these settings. The simplified motor score (SMS) was reported in the literature in 2012 for the assessment of patients with coma in different traumatic and non-traumatic settings. In the present study, we have discussed the findings of previous studies in the literature that compared the efficacy between the SMS and GCS in the assessment of patients with traumatic brain injuries within the emergency department and out-patient settings. Our results indicate the efficacy of the SMS is similar to that of the GCS score in predicting the different outcomes, including functional performance, need to perform tracheal intubation and hospital admission. Nevertheless, evidence regarding the prediction of mortality seems to be inconsistent across the different investigations. However, the differences between the two scores is not remarkable among these studies, indicating that the SMS is an efficacious tool in this regard within an acceptable test performance results. Furthermore, the SMS score can be easily applied within these without performing complex approaches, which makes it more advantageous than the GCS. However, this evidence is based on a limited number of investigations, and more studies are required.