Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale

The Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (abbreviated CPSS) is a system used to diagnose a potential stroke in a prehospital setting.

[1] It tests three signs for abnormal findings which may indicate that the patient is having a stroke.

If any one of the three tests shows abnormal findings, the patient may be having a stroke and should be transported to a hospital as soon as possible.

The CPSS was derived from the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale developed in 1997 at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for prehospital use.

[2] Patients with 1 of these 3 findings as a new event have a 72% probability of an ischemic stroke.