Thomas-Stonell and Greenberg used a combined drooling ranking to evaluate patients who are drooling. This can be used to evaluate the patient initially and the patient's response to an intervention. The authors are from Hugh MacMillan Medical Centre in Toronto.
Parameters:
(1) severity of drooling
(2) frequency of drooling
Parameter
Finding
Points
severity
dry
1
only lips wet (mild)
2
wet on lips and chin (moderate)
3
clothing damp (severe)
4
everything soaked (profuse)
5
frequency
never
1
occasional
2
frequent
3
constant
4
combined ranking =
= (points for severity) + (points for frequency)
Interpretation:
• minimum ranking: 2
• maximum ranking: 9
• The higher the ranking the more severe drooling.
Alternative approaches:
(1) Multiplying severity times frequency.
(2) Adjusting lowest grade to 0 points (giving a range from 0 to 7).
(3) Increasing the number of frequency categories.
(4) Adding additional measures such as change from last assessment.
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