Daily National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale examinations at stroke centers: why not do them?

The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was originally designed to stratify patients according to stroke severity for clinical trials, and now it is used to predict disposition and prognosticate functional outcome. Many researchers have also adopted it to trend patient progress over time and detect early neurologic deterioration. However, few investigators have reported its utility in monitoring the daily progress of patients hospitalized for stroke. In the present article, the authors discuss the advantages of daily National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale assessments and our clinical experience with this invaluable tool.