Rehabilitation status in multiple handicap.

The Edinburgh Rehabilitation Status Scale (ERSS) was applied to 129 attenders at a day center for physical disability. All of the attenders had significant neurological impairment dating from birth or from infancy. Fifty-nine of the subjects (46%) had been diagnosed on conventional grounds as having mental handicap as well as physical disability. ERSS scores were compared with Barthel Index scores in all subjects and with PULSES profile in 50 subjects (27 physical disability alone, 23 combined with mental handicap). The ERSS scores clearly demonstrated significant differences in the level of disablement between the two groups in all four subscales as well as in total scores; the Barthel scores showed differences in self-care and total scores, and, to a lesser extent, in mobility. PULSES failed to differentiate the groups except in one of its subscales. The ERSS is a sensitive index of overall function and is useful in highlighting the additive effect of mental handicap and physical disability, a difference which may not be apparent when other assessment scales are used.