Patient Name: ________________ Date: ________________
Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS)
Patient Name: ________________ Date: ________________
Instructions
Complete the examination procedure before making ratings.
MOVEMENT RATINGS: Rate highest severity observed. Rate movements that occur upon activation one less than those observed spontaneously.
Facial and Oral Movements Trunk Movements
1. Muscles of facial expression, 7. Neck, shoulders, hips,
e.g., movements of forehead, eyebrows, periorbital area, cheeks. e.g., rocking, twisting, squirming, pelvic gyrations.
Include frowning, blinking, grimacing of upper face. 0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
Global Judgments
2. Lips and perioral area,
8. Severity of abnormal movements.
e.g., puckering, pouting, smacking.
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
3. Jaw, 9. Incapacitation due to abnormal movements.
e.g., biting, clenching, chewing, mouth opening, lateral movement. 0 = none, normal
0 1 2 3 4 1 = minimal
2 = mild
4. Tongue. 3 = moderate
Rate only increase in movement both in and out of mouth, NOT inability 4 = severe
to sustain movement.
0 1 2 3 4 10. Patient’s awareness of abnormal movements. Rate only patient's
report.
Extremity Movements 0 = no awareness
5. Upper (arms, wrists, hands, fingers). 1 = aware, no distress
Include choreic movements (rapid, objectively purposeless, irregular, 2 = aware, mild distress
spontaneous), athetoid movements (slow, irregular, complex, serpentine). 3 = aware, moderate distress
Do NOT include tremor (repetitive, regular, rhythmic). 4 = aware, severe distress
0 1 2 3 4
Dental Status
6. Lower (legs, knees, ankles, toes),
11. C
urrent problems with teeth and/or dentures.
e.g., lateral knee movement, foot tapping, heel dropping, foot squirming,
0 = no
inversion and eversion of foot.
1 = yes
0 1 2 3 4
12. Does patient usually wear dentures?
0 = no
1 = yes
Examination Procedure
Either before or after completing the examination procedure, observe the patient unobtrusively at rest (e.g., in the waiting room). The chair to be used in
this examination should be a hard, firm one without arms.
1. Ask patient whether there is anything in his/her mouth (i.e. gum, candy, etc.) and if there is, to remove it.
2. Ask patient about the current condition of his/her teeth. Ask patient if he/she wears dentures. Do teeth or dentures bother patient now?
3. Ask patient whether he/she notices any movements in mouth, face, hands, or feet. If yes, ask to describe and to what extent they currently bother
patient or interfere with his/her activities.
4. Have patient sit in chair with hands on knees, legs slightly apart, and feet flat on floor. (Look at the entire body for movements while the patient is in
this position.)
5. Ask patient to sit with hands hanging unsupported. If male, between legs, if female and wearing a dress, hanging over knees. (Observe hands and
other body areas.)
6. Ask patient to open mouth. (Observe tongue at rest within mouth.) Do this twice.
7. Ask patient to protrude tongue. (Observe abnormalities of tongue movement.) Do this twice.
8. Ask patient to tap thumb, with each finger, as rapidly as possible for 10–15 seconds; separately with right hand, then with left hand. (Observe facial
and leg movements.)
9. Flex and extend patient’s left and right arms (one at a time.)
10. Ask patient to stand up. (Observe in profile. Observe all body areas again, hips included.)
11. Ask patient to extend both arms outstretched in front, with palms down. (Observe trunk, legs, and mouth.)
12. H Rater’s
ave patientinitials:
walk a few________________
paces, turn, and walk back to chair. (Observe hands and gait.) Do this twice.
Rater’s initials: ________________
Reproduced from Guy W. ECDEU Assessment Manual for Psychopharmacology: Revised (DHEW publication number ADM 76-338). Rockville,
MD, US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Public Health Service, Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, NIMH
Psychopharmacology Research Branch, Division of Extramural Research Programs, 1976: 534–7
This scale is in the public domain
