Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)

The UPDRS (now most often used in its updated form, the MDS-UPDRS) tracks how Parkinson's disease is affecting a person's mood, daily activities, and movement. A clinician combines patient- and caregiver-reported information with a hands-on motor exam to build a full picture of how the disease is progressing and how well treatment is working.

The scale covers four parts: non-motor experiences of daily living (mentation, behavior, and mood), motor experiences of daily living (ADLs), a motor examination, and motor complications, with the Modified Hoehn and Yahr and Schwab and England scales often reported alongside it. Occupational, physical, and speech therapists use it with adults and older adults in outpatient Parkinson's care, and it requires specific rater training and certification to administer consistently.

• MDS-UPDRS official page
• TheraCycle — UPDRS scale overview

The UPDRS is a copyrighted scale owned by the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. Individual clinical or educational use is free, while sponsored research use costs $1,000 and industry use costs $20,000. A separate training/certification fee ($1,000–$1,500) applies to rater certification.