A brief overview of the coma recovery scale-revised: Updates from the COMBI

THE COMA RECOVERY SCALE (CRS), initially published in 1991 by Giacino and colleagues,1 was developed to detect subtle differences in neurobehavioral function and monitor recovery in patients with disorders of consciousness, particularly coma, vegetative state (VS), and minimally conscious states (MCS). This scale was revised in 2004 and is presently named the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R).2 The revised version consists of 23 hierarchically organized items subdivided into 6 subscales. These subscales assess audition, receptive and expressive language, visuoperception, communication ability, motor functions, and arousal level. The CRS-R was selected as a Traumatic Brain Injury Common Data Element by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for the purpose of monitoring recovery of consciousness and subsequently endorsed by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, US Department of Veteran Affairs, and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.