Newcastle Mitochondrial Disease Scale for Adults

The Newcastle Mitochondrial Disease Scale for Adults (NMDAS) is a semi-quantitative clinical rating scale designed specifically for all forms of mitochondrial disease. It was developed and tested in Newcastle between 2002 and 2006 with the aim of providing a validated and reproducible measurement of disease progression to support clinical research and treatment trials. The full details of the scale were published in Neurology (Schaefer et al) in 2006.

The Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research has been using the NMDAS in routine clinical practice for the last 8 years. The data acquired has led to valuable research which has furthered our understanding of disease progression and allowed better prediction of the likely disease course for many of our patients. It is now the most widely used outcome measure in clinical trials for mitochondrial disease.

The complexity of mitochondrial disease demands a scale that considers the multi-system involvement that commonly exists. The scale therefore covers many parameters including neurological disease, diabetes, cardiac involvement, and quality of life. To obtain accurate and reproducible results it is important that all users of the NMDAS read the accompanying manual. We have also provided a video accompaniment to this manual to help guide users through the scale. Once familiar with the scale the NMDAS can be performed in the clinic setting in about 20 minutes and helps to identify clinical issues that may need further assessment.

The Scale and Accompanying Documents can be downloaded.

We are always happy to hear from groups wishing to use the scale for their own patient groups and can be contacted.

[email protected]
[email protected]

The video manual is also available to view.