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.
- 1Open a tight or new jar
- 2Write
- 3Turn a key
- 4Prepare a meal
- 5Push open a heavy door
- 6Place an object on a shelf above your head
- 7Do heavy household chores
- 8Garden or do yard work
- 9Make a bed
- 10Carry a shopping bag or briefcase
- 11Carry a heavy object over 10 lb
- 12Change a lightbulb overhead
- 13Wash or blow dry your hair
- 14Wash your back
- 15Put on a pullover sweater
- 16Use a knife to cut food
- 17Recreational activities needing little effort
- 18Recreational activities taking force through the arm
- 19Recreational activities moving your arm freely
- 20Manage transport needs
- 21Sexual activities
- 22Interference with social activities
- 23Limited work or daily activities
- 24Arm, shoulder or hand pain
- 25Pain when performing a specific activity
- 26Tingling (pins and needles)
- 27Weakness
- 28Stiffness
- 29Difficulty sleeping because of pain
- 30Feeling less capable, confident or useful
DASH score, 0–100
0.0
0 items left blank. Higher is worse: this reading is little disability.
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.
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 2026-09-04
- 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
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