The QuickDASH is the 11-question short form of the 30-question DASH. It measures how much an arm, shoulder, or hand problem limits daily life over the past week, from 0, no disability, to 100, the most. See how to score it, what a score and a change in score mean, and record the result with the free template. The official form comes from its source.
QuickDASH result template
FreeQUICKDASH RESULT Date: [Date] Patient: [Name or ID, age, dominant hand] Condition: [Diagnosis, side, date of injury or surgery] Visit: [Baseline, reassessment, or discharge; weeks since injury or surgery] Version: [QuickDASH 11 items or DASH 30 items, official form; language version] Completed by: [Patient on paper, patient on a tablet, or with help; interpreter if used] SCORE Items answered: [Number out of 11, or out of 30 for the DASH] Disability and symptom score: [0 to 100, to one decimal place] Descriptive level: [Minimal, mild, moderate, severe, or very severe] Work module: [0 to 100, or not given] Sports or performing arts module: [0 to 100, or not given] CHANGE Baseline: [Date and score] Last score: [Date and score] Change from baseline: [Points up or down, and whether it is beyond measurement error] INTERPRETATION Hardest tasks: [What the patient finds hardest now, in their words] Findings alongside: [Range of motion, grip strength, pain rating, special tests, imaging] Impression: [What the score adds to the clinical picture] PLAN Next step: [Continue, progress, change treatment, refer, or discharge] Work and activity: [Full duties, modified duties, sport or hobby, and any limits] Goal: [Target score or task, and by when] Repeat QuickDASH: [Date or interval] Clinician: [Name, credentials]
Use it for
The patient fills in the official form on their own, thinking about the past week. It takes a few minutes.
Avoid: Reading it over the phone or making your own version. The developers don’t endorse phone use, and the terms don’t allow changes to the form.
Each item scores 1 to 5. Divide the sum by the number of items answered, subtract 1, and multiply by 25, for a score from 0 to 100.
Avoid: Reporting the raw sum, from 11 to 55, as the score. Always convert it to the 0 to 100 scale.
Higher means more disability. There are no official cut-offs, so read it against the population average, the exam, and the patient’s goals.
Avoid: Using the descriptive levels as cut-offs for treatment. They put a number into words; they don’t decide the plan on their own.
Give it at baseline, then at each reassessment and at discharge, the same way each time.
Avoid: Calling a 5-point fall an improvement. It sits well within the measurement error.
Add the work module, or the sports or performing arts module, when high demands on the arm matter to the patient’s goals.
Avoid: Averaging a module into the main score. They measure different things and are always reported apart.
Each one follows the recording template. Use them to judge how much to write.
Orthopedic fracture clinic, 12 weeks after volar plate fixation
Right distal radius fracture from a fall on August 12, fixed with a volar plate on August 14. QuickDASH on paper in the waiting room, all 11 items answered. Answers added up to 23: ((23 ÷ 11) − 1) × 25 = 27.3, mild. Optional modules not given.
Baseline at 6 weeks, September 25: 61.4, severe, the week she started strengthening. Now 27.3, down 34.1 points: well past the 16 to 20 points of measurement error, so a real improvement.
47-year-old right-handed high school teacher, back at work since week 8. Hardest now: lifting a full pot, pushing up from a low chair, and push-ups at her gym class. X-ray: fracture united, plate and screws in good position. Wrist extension 60°, left 75°; flexion 50°, left 70°; supination 70°, left 85°; pronation full. Grip right 17 kg (37 lb), left 25 kg (55 lb), 68% of the other side. No numbness. Pain 3/10 with heavy lifting. Impression: united fracture, recovering on track; the remaining limits are strength and weight-bearing through the wrist.
No further fracture clinic visit planned; the plate stays in. Hand therapy every 2 weeks for 6 weeks for grip strength and graded weight-bearing. Back to gym classes, with push-ups against a wall for now. Goal: QuickDASH under 15 at therapy discharge. Repeat QuickDASH then. Come back sooner for new pain, clicking, or numbness.
Physical therapy, first visit, referred by his family physician
Right lateral elbow pain for 10 weeks. QuickDASH on a clinic tablet, all 11 items answered. Answers added up to 27: ((27 ÷ 11) − 1) × 25 = 36.4, mild. Work module, all 4 answered, sum 13: ((13 ÷ 4) − 1) × 25 = 56.3. Sports or performing arts module not given.
Baseline today; no earlier score. A fall of 16 points or more at reassessment would be a clear change.
33-year-old right-handed electrician. Worst with stripping wire, driving screws by hand, and carrying his tool bag. The work module, about 20 points above the main score, shows where the limit is. Tender just below the right lateral epicondyle; pain with resisted wrist extension and resisted middle finger extension. Pain-free grip right 21 kg (46 lb), left 46 kg (101 lb). Full elbow and neck range; sensation normal, no tingling. Impression: right lateral elbow tendinopathy, limiting his work more than his daily life.
Explained load and pain. Isometric wrist extension holds daily, moving to slow loading over 6 weeks. Work: stays on full duties with a cordless screwdriver instead of hand drivers, thicker tool grips, and tasks rotated through the day; counterforce strap to try. He asked about a steroid injection: explained it eases pain for a few weeks but slows recovery over a year, so we start with loading. Physical therapy weekly for 6 weeks. Goal: work module under 30 and a full shift without pain above 3/10. Repeat QuickDASH and work module at 6 weeks.
A sum of 38 is not a QuickDASH score; converted, it’s 61.4. A chart that mixes the two makes the trend meaningless.
With two or more blanks, no score can be calculated. Ask about the blanks before the patient leaves, or record that no score was possible.
The work and sports or performing arts modules are scored and recorded on their own. Folded into the main score, they distort it.
A drop from 45 to 39 is within the measurement error for one patient. Look for 16 to 20 points before calling it a real change.
The items ask what the person can do, whichever arm they use. Telling the patient to rate only the injured side changes the tool and the score.
Vero Scribe records the QuickDASH result in your template from the visit, with the patient’s consent, or from your dictation: the score, the items answered, any module scores, the change from baseline, and the plan. You review and edit every line, then copy it into your record. Vero works in 60+ languages.
Each of the 11 items is rated from 1 to 5. Add the answers, divide by the number answered, subtract 1, and multiply by 25, for a score from 0, no disability, to 100, the most. At least 10 of the 11 items must be answered. For example, answers adding up to 33 across all 11 items give ((33 ÷ 11) − 1) × 25 = 50.
Higher means more disability. The Institute for Work & Health sets no official cut-offs. As a guide, the general population averages about 10, and a common descriptive split is 0 to 20 minimal, above 20 to 40 mild, above 40 to 60 moderate, above 60 to 80 severe, and above 80 very severe. Read the score with the exam and the patient’s goals.
Studies put the minimal clinically important difference at about 8 to 16 points, depending on the condition: 8 in a shoulder pain study, about 14 in hand and wrist conditions, and about 16 across arm problems treated in physical therapy. Because one patient’s score can vary by 16 to 20 points from measurement error alone, the Institute for Work & Health suggests that range as a working threshold for real change in an individual.
The DASH is the original 30-item questionnaire, and the QuickDASH is its 11-item short form, built from the same items. Both score 0 to 100 with the same formula and have the same optional modules. The DASH allows up to 3 missing items and the QuickDASH 1. The QuickDASH takes a few minutes, so it suits busy clinics; the full DASH gives more detail and is common in research.
Two optional four-item modules, one on work and one on sports or performing arts, such as playing an instrument. They are for people whose job, sport, or art asks a lot of their arms, where the main score can miss a problem that shows only at high demand. Each scores 0 to 100 on its own, all four items must be answered, and the result is never added to the main score.
It measures what the person can do, whichever arm they use, so it reflects the upper limbs as a unit. Patients rate their ability to do each task, not one side. Record the affected side and the dominant hand in the note, since the score doesn’t show them.
The patient completes it, so any member of the team can hand out the form: physicians, therapists, nurses, or clinic staff. A clinician goes over the result with the patient. It was developed for adults, with 18 to 65 given as a general guide rather than a fixed age limit, and it was designed for paper, not the phone.
For clinical care, non-commercial research, and other not-for-profit use, yes, on the original form without changes and with credit to the developers. The Institute for Work & Health asks users to send an intent-to-use form, and commercial uses, such as software or products for sale, need a paid license. Get the official form and translations from the DASH site. The recording template on this page is free to copy or download.
Patient-reported measures of symptoms and function, scored as T-scores with 50 as the average: short forms, CATs, and the PROMIS-29.
Six basic self-care activities rated independent or dependent, scored 0 to 6, for function and care needs in older adults.
Eight independent living tasks, from shopping to finances, each scored 0 or 1: a total from 0, dependent, to 8, independent.
Twenty everyday activities rated for difficulty: lower limb function scored 0 to 80, higher is better, and 9 points is a real change.
Forty-two questions on one knee over the past week: five subscales, each scored 0 to 100, where 100 means no knee problems.
Hand function, daily tasks, and goals, with an outcome score as the baseline.
History, exam, and plan for shoulder, elbow, and wrist problems.
Fracture follow-ups, post-op visits, and clinic notes.
Every tool, by area, with what its scores mean.
Vero records scores, findings, and plans in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
No credit card required. 10 free actions every month.