MDS-Sponsored Revision of the UPDRS (MDS-UPDRS)
Acronym: MDS-UPDRS
Authors: Christopher G. Goetz, Barbara Tilley, Stephanie R. Shaftman, Glenn T. Stebbins, Stanley Fahn, Pablo Martinez-Martin, Werner Poewe, Cristina Sampaio, Matthew B. Stern, Richard Dodel, Bruno Dubois, Robert Holloway, Joseph Jankovic, Jaime Kulisevsky, Anthony E. Lang, Andrew Lees, Sue Leurgans, Peter A. LeWitt, David Nyenhuis, C. Warren Olanow, Olivier Rascol, Anette Schrag, Jeanne A. Teresi, Jacobus J. van Hilten, Nancy LaPelle
The MDS-UPDRS is a revision of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) originally developed in the 1980s. It addresses several problematic areas of the original scale identified by an MDS review task force. The MDS-UPDRS was developed to evaluate various aspects of Parkinson’s disease including non-motor and motor experiences of daily living and motor complications. It includes a motor evaluation and characterizes the extent and burden of disease across various populations. The scale can be used in a clinical setting as well as in research.
Original Publication │ View the Scale (PDF)
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Notice: As of August 13, 2019 an update was made to item 3.17 (Rest Tremor) of the MDS-UPDRS. Following review of the scale, it was determined that several inequality symbols in the “Extremity Ratings” and “Lip/Jaw Ratings” were changed to provide consistency with the scoring for items 3.15 and 3.16. The effects of these changes are felt to be nominal. Clinical trials and other studies using the original 3.17 scoring may continue to do so for the duration of the study. For questions, please contact ratingscales@movementdisorders.org.
Year Published: 2008
Scale Last Updated: August 13, 2019
Assessment Type: ClinRO and PRO
Estimated Time to Complete: Under 30 minutes for full assessment (time for patient-reported outcomes may vary).
Available Translations:
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
- Bulgarian
- Danish
- Norwegian
- Serbian
- Ukrainian
MDS acknowledges and thanks the translation Program Leaders and contributors for the development and ongoing support of translations.
Additional Scale Publications:
Luo S, Goetz CG, Choi D, Aggarwal S, Mestre TA, Stebbins GT. Resolving missing data from the MDS-UPDRS: implications for telemedicine. Movement Disorders, 2022 June 18.
Zolfaghari S, Thomann AE, Lewandowski N, Trundell D, Lipsmeier F, Pagano G, Taylor KI, Postuma RB. Self‐Report versus Clinician Examination in Early Parkinson's Disease. Movement Disorders. 2021 Dec 13.
Horváth K, Aschermann Z, Ács P, Bosnyák E, Deli G, Pál E, Janszky J, Faludi B, Késmárki I, Komoly S, Bokor M. Is the MDS-UPDRS a good screening tool for detecting sleep problems and daytime sleepiness in Parkinson’s disease? Parkinson’s Disease. 2014 Jan 1;2014.
Weintraut R, Karádi K, Lucza T, Kovács M, Makkos A, Janszky J, Kovács N. Lille apathy rating scale and MDS-UPDRS for screening apathy in Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Parkinson's Disease. 2016 Jan 1;6(1):257-65.
Makkos A, Kovács M, Aschermann Z, Harmat M, Janszky J, Karádi K, Kovács N. Are the MDS‐UPDRS–Based Composite Scores Clinically Applicable?. Movement Disorders. 2018 May;33(5):835-9.
Skorvanek M, Martinez‐Martin P, Kovacs N, Rodriguez‐Violante M, Corvol JC, Taba P, Seppi K, Levin O, Schrag A, Foltynie T, Alvarez‐Sanchez M. Differences in MDS‐UPDRS scores based on Hoehn and Yahr stage and disease duration. Movement Disorders Clinical Practice. 2017 Jul;4(4):536-44.
Goetz CG, Stebbins GT, Luo S. Movement Disorder Society–unified Parkinson's disease rating scale use in the Covid‐19 era. Movement Disorders. 2020 Jun 1.
Stillerova T, Liddle J, Gustafsson L, Lamont R, Silburn P. Remotely assessing symptoms of Parkinson’s disease using videoconferencing: a feasibility study. Neurology Research International. 2016 Oct;2016.
Goetz CG, Fahn S, Martinez‐Martin P, Poewe W, Sampaio C, Stebbins GT, Stern MB, Tilley BC, Dodel R, Dubois B, Holloway R, et al. Movement Disorder Society‐Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS): process, format, and clinimetric testing plan. Movement Disorders. 2007 Jan;22(1):41-7.
Goetz CG, Stebbins GT, Chmura TA, Fahn S, Poewe W, Tanner CM. Teaching program for the Movement Disorder Society‐Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale:(MDS‐UPDRS). Movement Disorders. 2010 Jul 15;25(9):1190-4.
Martinez-Martin P, Rodriguez-Blazquez C, Alvarez-Sanchez M, Arakaki T, Bergareche-Yarza A, Chade A, Garretto N, Gershanik O, Kurtis MM, Martinez-Castrillo JC, Mendoza-Rodriguez A, Moore HP, Rodriguez-Violante M, Singer C, Tilley BC, Huang J, Stebbins GT, Goetz CG. Expanded and independent validation of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS). J Neurol. 2013 Jan;260(1):228-36.
Stebbins GT, Goetz CG, Burn DJ, Jankovic J, Khoo TK, Tilley BC. How to identify tremor dominant and postural instability/gait difficulty groups with the Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale: Comparison with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. Movement Disorders. 2013 May;28(5):668-70.
Rodriguez-Blazquez C, Rojo-Abuin JM, Alvarez-Sanchez M, Arakaki T, Bergareche-Yarza A, Chade A, Garretto N, Gershanik O, Kurtis MM, Martinez-Castrillo JC, Mendoza-Rodriguez A, Moore HP, Rodriguez-Violante M, Singer C, Tilley BC, Huang J, Stebbins GT, Goetz CG, Martinez-Martin P. The MDS-UPDRS Part II (Motor Experiences of Daily Living) resulted useful for assessment of disability in Parkinson’s Disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2013 Oct;19(10):889-93.
Martínez-Martín P, Rodríguez-Blázquez C, Forjaz MJ, Álvarez-Sánchez M, Arakaki T, Bergareche-Yarza A, Chade A, Garretto N, Gershanik O, Kurtis MM, Martínez-Castrillo JC, Mendoza-Rodríguez A, Moore HP, Rodríguez-Violante M, Singer C, Tilley BC, Huang J, Stebbins GT, Goetz CG. Relationship between the MDS-UPDRS domains and the health-related quality of life of Parkinson’s disease patients. Eur J Neurol. 2014 Mar;21(3):519-24.
Goetz CG, Stebbins GT, Wang L, LaPelle NR, Lou S, Tilley BC. IPMDS-sponsored scale translation program: process, format, and clinimetric testing plan for the MDS-UPDRS and UDysRS. Movement Disorders Clinical Practice, 2014 May;1:97-101.
Goetz CG, Luo S, Wang L, Tilley BC, LaPelle NR, Stebbins GT. Handling missing values in the MDS‐UPDRS. Movement Disorders. 2015 Oct;30(12):1632-8.
Goetz CG, Liu Y, Stebbins GT, Wang L, Tilley BC, Teresi JA, Merkitch D, Luo S. Gender‐, age‐, and race/ethnicity‐based differential item functioning analysis of the Movement Disorder Society–Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. Movement Disorders. 2016 Dec;31(12):1865-73.
Horváth K, Aschermann Z, Kovács M, Makkos A, Harmat M, Janszky J, Komoly S, Karádi K, Kovács N. Minimal clinically important differences for the experiences of daily living parts of Movement Disorder Society–Sponsored Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. Movement Disorders. 2017 May;32(5):789-93.
Martinez-Martin P, Skorvanek M, Rojo-Abuin JM, Gregova Z, Stebbins GT, Goetz CG; members of the QUALPD Study Group. Validation study of the Hoehn and Yahr scale included in the MDS-UPDRS. Movement Disorders. 2018 Jan; 33(4): 651-652.
Skorvanek M, Martinez-Martin P, Kovacs N, Zezula I, Rodriguez-Violante M, Corvol JC, Taba P, Seppi K, Levin O, Schrag A, Aviles-Olmos I, Alvarez-Sanchez M, Arakaki T, Aschermann Z, Benchetrit E, Benoit C, Bergareche-Yarza A, Cervantes-Arriaga A, Chade A, Cormier F, Datieva V, Gallagher DA, Garretto N, Gdovinova Z, Gershanik O, Grofik M, Han V, Kadastik-Eerme L, Kurtis MM, Mangone G, Martinez-Castrillo JC, Mendoza-Rodriguez A, Minar M, Moore HP, Muldmaa M, Mueller C, Pinter B, Poewe W, Rallmann K, Reiter E, Rodriguez-Blazquez C, Singer C, Valkovic P, Goetz CG, Stebbins GT. Relationship between the MDS-UPDRS and Quality of Life: A large multicenter study of 3206 patients. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2018 July; 52:83-89.
Evers LJ, Krijthe JH, Meinders MJ, Bloem BR, Heskes TM. Measuring Parkinson's disease over time: The real‐world within‐subject reliability of the MDS‐UPDRS Movement Disorders. 2019 Jul 10.