Barthel Index Calculator
Score the Barthel Index of activities of daily living — feeding, bathing, grooming, dressing, bowels, bladder, toilet, transfers, mobility and stairs — 0 to 100 with the level of dependence.
How it works
Barthel Index = feeding (0/5/10) + bathing (0/5) + grooming (0/5) + dressing (0/5/10) + bowels (0/5/10) + bladder (0/5/10) + toilet use (0/5/10) + transfers (0/5/10/15) + mobility (0/5/10/15) + stairs (0/5/10); maximum 100. Interpretation (Shah 1989): 0–20 total · 21–60 severe · 61–90 moderate · 91–99 slight dependence · 100 independent.
The Barthel Index (Mahoney and Barthel, 1965) measures how independently a person performs ten basic activities of daily living. It is widely used in stroke units, rehabilitation and geriatric care to record function on admission and discharge and to plan support at home. Score what the person actually does, not what they could do, and use the best information available from the last 24–48 hours. The dependence bands are those proposed by Shah and colleagues in 1989.
Worked example
A patient who feeds independently (10), needs help to bathe (0), grooms independently (5), dresses half unaided (5), is continent of bowels (10), has occasional bladder accidents (5), needs some help in the toilet (5), needs minor help to transfer (10), walks with one helper (10) and needs help on stairs (5) scores 65 / 100 — moderate dependence.
Sources: Mahoney FI, Barthel DW. Functional evaluation: the Barthel Index. Md State Med J 1965 · Shah S et al. Improving the sensitivity of the Barthel Index for stroke rehabilitation. J Clin Epidemiol 1989
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal Barthel score?
A score of 100 means independence in all ten activities. It does not mean the person can live alone safely — cooking, shopping and housework are not included (those are instrumental activities of daily living).
Is there a 0–20 version of the Barthel Index?
Yes. Some countries use the same items scored 0–20 (each point here divided by 5). Multiply a 0–20 score by 5 to compare it with this 0–100 version.
What score suggests severe dependence?
With the Shah bands, 21–60 is severe dependence and 0–20 total dependence. Many rehabilitation services treat a score below 60 as a sign that considerable daily help will be needed.
Should I score with or without aids?
With the aids the person normally uses. Using a walking stick still counts as independent mobility; needing another person to help does not.
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Clinical decision tool for education and for use by trained clinicians alongside clinical judgement — not a diagnosis and not a substitute for medical assessment. Scores validated in specific populations may not apply to every patient.