MDS Non-Motor Rating Scale (MDS-NMS)
Assess non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD) in depth.
Permission is required for each single use of the MDS Clinical Outcome Assessments.
The MDS-NMS is a revision of the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS) and was developed to improve and refine the assessment of non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD). This rater-completed assessment measures frequency and severity of 13 non-motor domains, over 52 items and covers a range of key non-motor symptoms both PD and treatment related, and in greater depth, compared with the NMSS. The scale also has a new MDS-NMS Non-Motor Fluctuations (NMF) Subscale to assess changes in non-motor symptoms in relation to the timing of anti-parkinsonian medications across 8 domains.
This scale is expected to be useful in clinical care and research, including trials of investigational medicinal products related to PD. The MDS-NMS is a valid and reliable rating scale that measures the burden of non-motor symptoms, including non-motor fluctuations, in PD patients.
Authors: K. Ray Chaudhuri, Anette Schrag, Daniel Weintraub, Alexandra Rizos, Carmen Rodriguez-Blazquez, Eugenia Mamikonyan and Pablo Martinez-Martin
- Acronym: MDS-NMS
- Year Published: 2019
- Estimated Time to Complete: The estimated time for completion of the scale is 15-40 minutes, depending on the status of patient and number of non-motor symptoms present.
- Assessment Type: ClinRO
Available translations: 10+ languages
Eletronic builds: REDCap, HTML
To request permission to use this Rating Scale, please fill out a Permission Request Form.
Certificate Program: Learn to administer the MDS-NMS »| As of May 12, 2025 an update was made to the instructions of the Non-Motor Fluctuation Subscale of the MDS-NMS. The instructions now include the statement: "If you are not taking any PD medication, please skip this section." The update improves clarity for the scale administrator and does not affect the scale's validated properties. Clinical trials and other studies using the unaltered MDS-NMS (v1.0) may continue to do so for the duration of the study. For questions, please contact ratingscales@movementdisorders.org. |
Translations
Available Translations:
In Progress:
The following translations have completed Cognitive Pre-testing. For more information about the Translation Program, please reference our Protocol for Official Non-English Language Translations. Please contact ratingscales@movementdisorders.org for more information.
- Armenian
- Dutch
- Italian
- Lithuanian
- Norwegian
- Swedish
MDS thanks the translation Program Leaders and contributors for the development and ongoing support of translations.
Additional Scale Publications
Original Publication
The Movement Disorder Society Nonmotor Rating Scale: Initial Validation Study
Chaudhuri KR, Schrag A, Weintraub D, Rizos A, Rodriguez‐Blazquez C, Mamikonyan E, Martinez‐Martin P
January 2020
Movement Disorders Clinical Practice; 35(1):116-33
Clinimetrics
Conversion between NMSS and MDS-NMS in Parkinson's Disease
Michela Garon, José-Manuel Rojo-Albuin, K. Ray Chaudhuri, Alexandra Rizos MSc, Carmen Rodriguez-Blazquez, Eugenia Mamikonyan, Roberta Biundo, Anette Schra, Daniel Weintraub, Angelo Antonini, Per Odin, Pablo Martinez-Martin
March 2025
Movement Disorders
Characterization of Non-Motor Fluctuations Using the Movement Disorder Society Non-Motor Rating Scale
Wamelen DJ, Rota S, Schrag A, Rizos A, Martinez-Martin P, Weintraub D, Chaudhuri KR
July 2022
Movement Disorders Clinical Practice; 9(7):932-40
Factor Analysis and Clustering of the Movement Disorder Society–Non-Motor Rating Scale
Martinez-Martin P, Rojo-Abuín J, Weintraub D, Chaudhuri KR, Rodriguez-Blázquez C, Rizos A, Schrag A
June 2020
Movement Disorders Clinical Practice; 35(6):969-75
Pilot Study of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society-sponsored Non-motor Rating Scale (MDS-NMS)
Martinez-Martin P, Schrag A, Weintraub D, Rizos A, Rodriquez-Blazquez C, Chaudhuri KR
January 2019
Movement Disorders Clinical Practice; 6(3):227-34
Translations
Expanded and Independent Spanish Validation of the MDS-Non Motor Rating Scale
Cubo E, Luo S, Martínez-Martín P, Stebbins GT, Lin J, Choi D, García-Bustillo A, Mir P, Santos-Garcia P, Serrano-Dueñas M, Rodriguez-Violante M, Singer M, and the Spanish MDS-NMS Validation Study Group
January 2023
Movement Disorders Clinical Practice; 10(4):586-95