The ECOG performance status, often just called the performance status (PS), is a scale used to assess how a patient's disease is progressing, assess how the disease affects the daily living abilities of the patient, and determine appropriate treatment and prognosis (it is one of the three components that form the BCLC HCC staging).
grade 0: fully active, able to carry on all pre-disease performance without restriction
grade 1: restricted in physically strenuous activity but ambulatory and able to carry out work of a light or sedentary nature, e.g. light housework, office work
grade 2: ambulatory and capable of all self-care but unable to carry out any work activities, up and about more than 50% of waking hours
grade 3: capable of only limited self-care, confined to bed or chair more than 50% of waking hours
grade 4: completely disabled, cannot carry on any self-care, totally confined to bed or chair
grade 5: dead
In clinical and research settings, the grading is commonly abbreviated to PS, so for example grade 3 would be noted as "PS 3" etc 2-4.
History and etymology
The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) is one of the largest clinical cancer research organizations in the United States and conducts clinical trials in all types of adult cancers. The performance status arose from an article they published in 1982 1. The ECOG performance status is in the public domain, therefore freely available for public use. To duplicate the scale, please cite the reference below and credit the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.
The ECOG performance status was originally designed to be used in oncology patients but is now often used to assess patients without cancer in other disease settings, e.g preoperatively 2,3.