The Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale is a four-item scale to assess the presence and severity

of drug-induced akathisia. It is the most widely used comprehensive rating scale for
akathisia, including both objective items (eg observed restlessness) and subjective items
(eg patient's awareness of restlessness and related distress), together with a global clinical
assessment of akathisia.
Global assessment is made on a scale of 0 to 5 with comprehensive definitions provided
for each anchor point on scale: 0=absent; 1=questionable; 2=mild akathisia; 3=moderate
akathisia; 4=marked akathisia; 5=severe akathisia.
Benefits of the BAS/BARS:

Depth of guidance - This assessment tool provides guidance on examination

procedures in addition to the rating scale.
Quick - Easily accommodated within outpatient appointment.
Scale of assessment - This tool assesses stress caused to the patient by specific
symptom, not just symptom itself, rating it globally using a severity scale.
Definitions and instructions for examinations are easy to understand and severity
points are well anchored and clinically relevant.
Scale has been proven to have strong face validity and practicality.

Challenges of the BAS/BARS:

The Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale only returns one result, even though it assesses many
items.