Diagnosis of disorders of consciousness with the German version of Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R)

摘要

Differential diagnosis of severe disorders of consciousness is one of the major challenges of neurological rehabilitation. The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R), which was validated and published by the author of the scale Giacino in 2004 allows an - in comparison to earlier tools - improved assessment of minimal cognitive competencies of patients with severe disorders of consciousness. Based on the examination results, conclusions can be drawn regarding vegetative state and minimally conscious state. The German version of this scale as well as its' psychometric properties as published in the original validation study are presented in this paper. Finally, a critical summary discusses the usefulness of the scale in neurological rehabilitation.