Elderly Mobility Scale (EMS)

Evaluates mobility in frail elderly patients through 7 functional tests.

Elderly Mobility Scale

The EMS was aimed as a standardised, validated scale for the assessment of frail geriatric patients, in or outside clinical settings.

It focuses on evaluation functional performance in abilities that support activities of daily living. Therefore, the EMS refers to the ability of the elderly person to perform ADLs.

EMS score interpretation

Based on the practical evaluation, each of the 7 functional tests described above, is awarded a number of points, varying from 0 to 4.

The highest score obtainable, 20, is consistent with full independent capacity.

A threshold at 10 has been established, with patients obtaining scores below this value requiring supervision, fall prevention and, in some cases, permanent care.

Scores are divided in three categories, according to the result interpretation:

EMS score Result interpretation

14 - 20 Patient is independent in basic activities of daily life. He/she may require some help but is generally safe alone at home.

10 - 13 Patient scores borderline independence in activities of daily life. He/she requires some degree of help with mobility related manoeuvres.

0 - 9 Patient requires help with basic activities of daily life and is dependent of long term care.

Some of the benefits of the EMS include its functionality, its clinical and personal significance, the fact that it can be administered in about 15 minutes and requires little training.

One of the main criticisms received by the scale refer to the fact that it requires a particular environment, i.e. the 6 metres course, the fact that the ceiling effect is achieved quickly by patients with better capability and the fact that it doesn’t account for other personal factors, such as confidence issues.

About the original study

The Elderly Mobility Scale was designed as a 20 point validated assessment tool (on an ordinal scale) for the assessment of frail elderly subjects.

The scale considers locomotion, balance and changes of position.

It has been tested for inter-rater reliability (with results of clinical physiotherapists) and its predictive capacity has been validated through subsequent studies.

Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating scores with the Functional Independence Measure and Barthel Index. The EMS was found to be more likely to detect improvement in mobility than the Barthel Index.

Discriminant validity was assessed by testing healthy community dwelling volunteers.