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SCALE 15.1 |
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INTERMITTENT ATTACK SEVERITY |
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Level |
Criteria |
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0 |
Minor symptoms that are easily tolerated. |
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I |
Mild to moderate symptoms that are irritating or unpleasant but that rarely prevent completion of any activity. Symptoms may cause loss of efficiency in some activities. |
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II |
More severe symptoms, that are distressing, but prevent few everyday activities. Loss of efficiency is discernible elsewhere. Self-care is unaffected and independence is retained. |
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III |
Loss of efficiency is discernible in many everyday activities. Some elements of self-care are restricted but, in most respects, independence is retained. Bed-rest is often necessary during an attack. |
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IV |
Major restrictions in many everyday activities. Capacity for self-care is increasingly restricted, leading to partial dependence on others. |
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V |
Most everyday activities are prevented. Dependent on others for many kinds of self-care. Able to be maintained at home only with considerable difficulty, or hospital admission is required. |
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VI |
Total incapacity. Unconscious or delirious. Self-care is impossible. |
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No age adjustment permitted for this table
Ratings are based on the activities that the veteran is physically unable to perform. For conditions in which it is common practice to lie down during attacks, it may be inappropriate to rate at level III if symptoms are mild and cause little restriction to activity.
Attacks of some intermittent conditions necessitate hospital admission. Hospital admissions commonly, but not invariably, call for level V or VI rating. It is important to rate self-care capacity. To be rated at Level V severity, a condition must render the veteran incapable of caring for himself or herself.
Hospital admission for surgery is not to be used as a basis for ratings from Table 15.1.
Step 6:Determine the rating for duration of the intermittent attacks using Table 15.2.
Attacks that last for more than 24 hours are to be classified as prolonged for the purposes of Table 15.2. Because they affect the veteran for more than one day per attack, the number of affected days per year will be greater than the number of attacks.