07/29/2026
Often people will ask themselves if their loved one has dementia.
The "FAST" scale can be used as an indicator.
I put this here for consultation only.
Please visit your doctor for a more precise diagnosis.
Functional Assessment Staging Tool (FAST Scale)
1. No difficulty either subjectively or objectively.
2. Complains of forgetting location of objects.
Subjective work difficulties.
3. Decreased job functioning evident to co-workers. Difficulty in traveling to new locations.
Decreased organizational capacity. *
4. Decreased ability to perform complex tasks, e.g., planning dinner for guests, handling personal finances (such as forgetting to pay bills), difficulty marketing, etc.
5. Requires assistance in choosing proper clothing to wear for the day, season, or occasion, e.g., patient may wear the same clothing repeatedly, unless supervised. *
6. - A, B, C, D, E
A. Improperly putting on clothes without assistance or prompting (e.g., may put street clothes on over night clothes, or put shoes on wrong feet, or have difficulty buttoning clothing) occasionally or more frequently over the past weeks. *
B. Unable to bathe properly (e.g., difficulty adjusting bathwater temp.) occasionally or more frequently over the past weeks. *
C. Inability to handle mechanics of toileting (e.g., forgets to flush the toilet, does not wipe properly or properly dispose of toilet tissue) occasionally or more frequently over the past weeks. *
D. Urinary incontinence occasionally or more frequently over the past weeks. *
E. F***l incontinence occasionally or more frequently over the past weeks. *
7. - A, B, C, D, E, F
A. Ability to speak limited to approximately a half-dozen intelligible different words or fewer in the course of an average day or in the course of an intensive interview.
B. Speech ability is limited to the use of a single intelligible word in an average day or in the course of an intensive interview (the person may repeat the word over and over).
C. Ambulatory ability is lost (cannot walk without personal assistance).
D. Cannot sit up without assistance.
E. Loss of ability to smile.
F. Loss of ability to hold head up independently.
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* Scored primarily on the basis of information obtained from knowledgeable informant.
Adapted from: Reisberg B, Ferris SH, Franssen E. An ordinal functional assessment tool for
Alzheimer's-type dementia. Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1985 Jun;36(6):593-5. doi:
10.1176/ps.36.6.593. PMID: 4007814.
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