Description: | The Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) is a 12-item, clinician-rated scale assessing the severity of tardive dyskinesia (TD) in patients taking antipsychotic medications. |
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Disease States: | General |
Validated Uses: | Medication Side Effects |
Administration Method: | Clinician-report |
Time to administer: | 5–15 minutes |
Commonly used in: | Clinical Trials & Research, Clinical Practice |
Detailed Description: | Commonly administered in both research and clinical settings, 2,5 the AIMS is the most widely used rating scale for assessing TD.5,7 TD is a chronic disorder characterized by involuntary, stereotypic, and choreic body movements and induced by the use of antipsychotic medications and other dopamine receptor-blocking agents (DRBAs).7-9 TD may occur in 20% to 30% of patients treated with antipsychotics9 and is associated with a significant reduction in the patient’s quality of life.9,10 TD may resolve if the inducing medication is discontinued, although some effects may be permanent or take a long time to resolve.11 There are some Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatments for TD, but they are not effective for all patients.7,11
The AIMS is a 12-item clinician-rated questionnaire.3,5 The first 7 items (1–7) assess abnormal movements in the orofacial region, upper extremities, lower extremities, and trunk.1,3,5,7 Global items (8–10) assess the overall severity of abnormal movements, as well as the patient’s awareness and degree of incapacitation.1,3,5,7 The final 2 items (11–12) are yes/no questions probing a patient’s dental health and use of dentures.1,3,5,7 |
Scale Validity: | Inter-rater reliability, calculated per body part and for the total score, ranges from 0.50 (trunk) to 0.79 (total score) according to a study conducted in 33 outpatient adults with TD.13 A second study in 30 psychiatric inpatients with TD demonstrates that inter-rater reliability is higher in experienced raters, with the global severity score showing agreement as high as 0.88.14 |
Alternative Versions: | A modified 14-item version of the AIMS includes 2 additional items probing for edentia (ie, missing teeth) and the disappearance of abnormal movements during sleep.7,* |
Cited Limitations: | Directions for scoring are limited in the original AIMS.7 Lack of detailed information can make scoring challenging for inexperienced raters and increase variability across raters.3,7 More detailed guidelines have been developed and provide recommendations for scoring based on quality, frequency, amplitude, and location of abnormal movements.6,7
Other limitations of the AIMS include its failure to assess social consequences and/or functional deficits associated with TD.7,12 The AIMS also fails to capture one-time or episodic presentations of TD.12 |
Footnotes:
*Although the original 12-item version of the AIMS is described here, we include information about alternative versions for your general awareness and convenience. These alternative versions may be used by different practitioners or in clinical trial or research settings.
Supporting references for the filters are as follows:
Disease States: General1,2; Validated Uses: Medication Side Effects3; Administration Method: Clinician-report2,3,6; Time to administer: 5–15 minutes5; Commonly used in: Clinical Trials & Research,2,5 Clinical Practice2,5
This resource is intended for educational purposes only and is intended for US healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals should use independent medical judgment. All decisions regarding patient care must be handled by a healthcare professional and be made based on the unique needs of each patient.
ABBV-US-00419-MC, Version 2.0
Approved 05/2024
AbbVie Medical Affairs