DASH score calculator
Thirty items about the arm as a single unit — shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand together — scored 1 to 5 and converted to a 0–100 disability figure. Higher is worse.
Thirty items, each scored 1 (no difficulty) to 5 (unable). Up to three may be left blank; a fourth blank invalidates the score.
- 1Opening a tight jar
- 2Writing
- 3Turning a key
- 4Meal preparation
- 5Pushing a heavy door open
- 6Reaching a high shelf
- 7Heavy housework
- 8Garden and yard work
- 9Bed-making
- 10Carrying a bag
- 11Carrying a heavy load
- 12Overhead reach (light bulb)
- 13Washing or drying hair
- 14Washing your back
- 15Pulling on a jumper
- 16Cutting food
- 17Light recreation
- 18Recreation that loads the arm
- 19Recreation with free arm movement
- 20Getting around (transport)
- 21Sexual activity
- 22Effect on social life
- 23Effect on work or daily routine
- 24Arm, shoulder or hand pain
- 25Pain during a specific task
- 26Tingling
- 27Weakness
- 28Stiffness
- 29Sleep lost to pain
- 30Confidence and sense of usefulness
DASH score, 0–100
0.0
0 items left blank. Higher is worse. IWH publishes no mild / moderate / severe cut points, so read the score against this patient’s own baseline.
The arm as one limb
DASH was built on the premise that the upper limb functions as a unit, so the same instrument serves a rotator cuff, a lateral epicondyle and a scaphoid. That is its strength for tracking an episode and its weakness for comparing two very different pathologies: it answers “how is the arm?”, not “how is the shoulder?”.
The missing-item rule is strict
Up to three items may be left blank and the mean is taken over what remains. A fourth blank and there is no score at all — not a lower one. Check the sheet before the patient leaves the room, because chasing an unanswered question by phone rarely works.
QuickDASH, and when to use it
The eleven-item QuickDASH exists for the same reason every short form exists: completion. It tracks the full instrument closely enough for routine follow-up and is the better choice if your patients are quietly abandoning the long version. Do not mix the two within one episode — pick a version at the evaluation and stay on it. The QuickDASH calculator scores the short form and its optional modules.
Pair it with a pain number
A DASH score falling while the pain rating holds is a good week — the arm is being used more. The reverse, pain down and DASH flat, is usually avoidance. Record both at evaluation, at the re-examination, and at discharge; the plan of care is where the target value belongs.
Red flag — refer out
A questionnaire does not screen. Night pain, a mass, unexplained weight loss or progressive weakness in the limb go to a physician regardless of what the score says.
The DASH is published by the Institute for Work & Health. The item wording here is paraphrased for reference; use the official form for clinical use and observe its licence.
Sources
- Institute for Work & Health — the DASH Outcome Measure — 30-item self-report questionnaire, developed with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons · read 2026-09-04
- Institute for Work & Health — DASH scoring instructions — disability/symptom section: 30 items scored 1–5 · read 2026-10-18
- Hudak PL, Amadio PC, Bombardier C. Development of an upper extremity outcome measure: the DASH. Am J Ind Med. 1996;29(6):602–608 · read 2026-09-04
Keep reading
QuickDASH score calculator
Score the 11-item QuickDASH, its work and sport modules, and the change since baseline.
Oswestry Disability Index calculator
Score the 10-section ODI, handle blank sections and check a change against the MCID.
Neck Disability Index calculator
Score the 10-section NDI out of 50, with blank-section proration and the 5-point change.
Chiropractor salary
What chiropractors earn employed versus in their own practice.