ECOG Performance Status
Quantifies functional status in cancer patients to guide treatment decisions, clinical trial eligibility, and prognosis
- Highest activation tier
- Mandatory
- How it is scored
- Scored in code; a detected disagreeing draft value is flagged for correction
- Scoring type
- classification
- Care settings
- Inpatient, Outpatient
When it activates
Scribeable activates a calculator from the encounter. The ECOG Performance Status can activate when the transcript or pasted chart context documents any of these:
- Cancer treatment planning
- Oncology performance assessment
- Clinical trial eligibility evaluation
- Chemotherapy candidacy assessment
- Cancer prognosis discussion
A coded diagnosis can also activate it. ICD-10 prefixes carried by the registry: C00-C97.
Inputs the note needs
3 inputs. Each is resolved from the transcript, the pasted chart context and charted labs; an input marked "asks you" is requested as a clarification when it is undocumented.
| Input | Type | Unit / options | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of waking hours spent in bed or chair | history | ||
| Ability to perform activities of daily living and self-care | history | ||
| Ability to carry out work or normal activities | history |
Scoring
ECOG 0: Fully active, no restrictions. ECOG 1: Restricted in physically strenuous activity but ambulatory, able to carry out light work. ECOG 2: Ambulatory and capable of all self-care but unable to work; up and about >50% of waking hours. ECOG 3: Capable of only limited self-care; confined to bed or chair >50% of waking hours. ECOG 4: Completely disabled, no self-care, totally confined to bed or chair. ECOG 5: Dead.
ECOG from ambulatory status Percentage of waking hours spent in bed or chair, self-care Ability to perform activities of daily living and self-care, work capacity Ability to carry out work or normal activities (0=fully active, 1=ambulatory/light work, 2=self-care no work, 3=limited self-care, 4=completely disabled, 5=dead)
Interpretation
ECOG 0-1: Generally eligible for most chemotherapy regimens and clinical trials. ECOG 2: Eligible for many regimens but increased toxicity risk; consider dose reduction. ECOG 3: Most chemotherapy regimens not recommended; best supportive care or palliative therapy. ECOG 4: No active anticancer therapy; comfort measures. Correlates with Karnofsky: ECOG 0=KPS 100, ECOG 1=KPS 80-90, ECOG 2=KPS 60-70, ECOG 3=KPS 40-50, ECOG 4=KPS 10-30.
Evidence
Sources carried in Scribeable's citation registry for this calculator; guideline version: Oken 1982.
- Oken MM et al. Toxicity and response criteria of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology GroupOken et al. (ECOG) 1982 · 1982 · ECOG · link last verified 2026-03-28
How Scribeable handles it in the note
When an encounter activates the ECOG Performance Status at the mandatory tier, Scribeable resolves its inputs from the transcript, the pasted chart context and any charted labs, and asks you for a missing input you can supply before the note is finalised. Bedside-exam and separately ordered study values are not requested one input at a time; a calculator that carries a combined clarification question may still put that single question to you.
The score is computed in code from the resolved inputs, not recalled by the language model. If the draft states a ECOG Performance Status value that disagrees with the computed one, the disagreement is flagged to the second drafting pass, which is instructed to correct the score and its interpretation before you see the note.
Classified as a risk score: activated strictly, by a documented trigger, never by a permissive reading of the encounter.
See it activate on your own encounter
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