Functional Assessment Staging for Alzheimer's Disease Management

Clinical Application and Interpretation

• The Functional Assessment Staging (FAST) scale is administered by interviewing the care partner or the patient to determine the level of impairment, with each stage rated on a 4-point scale, and a total score range of 0-60, indicating greater dependence with higher scores 1

Validation and Clinical Significance

• FAST has been validated in both primary and specialty care settings and can be administered by clinical or non-clinical staff, providing valuable diagnostic, differential diagnostic, and prognostic information 1

Important Clinical Considerations

• In typical Alzheimer's disease, symptoms progress in sequence through the stages, but atypical dementias may not follow this sequence, and FAST can help determine eligibility for palliative or hospice care in patients with severe dementia 1