Performance status scales

Q: The Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) of zero is equivalent to? (select one)

A) Full functional status

B) Death

Answer: B

Studies have shown that patient's performance status is highly related to his survival time in terminal cancer. Three scales are widely used to predict survival depending on performance status.

• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 
• Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) 
• Palliative Performance Scale (PPS)

KPS is measured on a scale of 0-100 points, while PPS is measured on a scale of  0-100%. On both scales, zero means death. ECOG has a scale of 0-4 where 4 means completely disabled.

All three scores are freely available from any search engine.

#end-of-life

#palliativecare

#oncology

References:

1. Oken MM, Creech RH, Tormey DC, et al. Toxicity and response criteria of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Am J Clin Oncol 1982; 5:649.

2. Downing M, Lau F, Lesperance M, et al. Meta-analysis of survival prediction with Palliative Performance Scale. J Palliat Care 2007; 23:245.

3. de Kock I, Mirhosseini M, Lau F, et al. Conversion of Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG) to Palliative Performance Scale (PPS), and the interchangeability of PPS and KPS in prognostic tools. J Palliat Care 2013; 29:163.