Karnofsky Performance Status Assessment: resident versus attending

Abstract

Background: Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) is a commonly used scale to assess a patient's functional status.

Methods: Between September 1999 and March 2000, 117 patients were independently evaluated and assigned KPS scores by both an attending physician and a resident physician at the time of radiation therapy simulation.

Results: Both attending and resident median assigned KPS score was 80. Attending and resident KPS scores were identical for 50 patients (43%). When KPS scores differed, this difference was of the smallest incremental value (10 points) in 50 patients (75%). The Pearson correlation coefficient is 0.85, significant at the 0.01 level.

Conclusion: KPS scoring by radiation oncology attending physicians is similar to that by resident physicians.