Are short forms of Barthel Index equally useful in assessment of ADL?

It has been more than 50 years ago, when in 1965 Florence Mahoney and Dorothea Barthel published an article entitled "Functional evaluation: the Barthel Index." Since then, Barthel scale, also known as a Basic ADL Index (BI), Barthel Score and Maryland Disability Index, is one of the most well-known scales ADL (Activities of Daily Living) and is still popular. This simple scale is still used by the representatives of a number of medical workers for many pur-poses, including the assessment of the results of treatment, rehabilitation, prognosing, assess-ment of self-reliance, assessment of needs for care and for the purposes of the judgment. De-spite its simplicity, the administration of the original Barthel questionnaire takes about 5-10 minutes; that`s why there is a demand for a shortened form of BI. Based on a review of the literature the advantages and disadvantages of the abbreviated BI versions in assessing activities of daily living has been presented.Key WordsADL, Barthel Index, Barthel scale, clinimetrics, short formsOpara J. Are short forms of Barthel Index equally useful in the assessment of ADL? Med Rehabil 2018; 22(2): 40-44. DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0012.6932