The Modified Ashworth scale (MAS) measures resistance during passive soft-tissue

stretching Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon (or muscle group) is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling ...

and is used as a simple measure of

spasticity Spasticity () is a feature of altered skeletal muscle performance with a combination of paralysis, increased tendon reflex activity, and hypertonia. It is also colloquially referred to as an unusual "tightness", stiffness, or "pull" of muscles ...

. Scoring (taken from Bohannon and Smith, 1987): * 0: No increase in muscle tone * 1: Slight increase in muscle tone, manifested by a catch and release or by minimal resistance at the end of the range of motion when the affected part(s) is moved in flexion or extension * 1+: Slight increase in muscle tone, manifested by a catch, followed by minimal resistance throughout the remainder (less than half) of the

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

* 2: More marked increase in muscle tone through most of the ROM, but affected part(s) easily moved * 3: Considerable increase in muscle tone, passive movement difficult * 4: Affected part(s) rigid in flexion or extension

References

::2 Bohannon RW and Smith MB; 1987:Physical Therapy, 67(2), 206–207 Cerebral palsy and other paralytic syndromes Neurology Medical assessment and evaluation instruments {{disability-stub