Pre-operative health status. Free to use.
ASA Physical Status (ASA Physical Status Classification) is a validated clinical instrument used to assess pre-operative health status. The instrument contains 1 item.
Source / attribution: American Society of Anesthesiologists, 2020 update
The instrument's primary construct — pre-operative health status — is operationalized through a fixed set of items, each with a defined response format. This standardisation is what allows ASA Physical Status scores to be compared meaningfully across clinicians, sites, and studies.
Like all screening or assessment instruments, ASA Physical Status is a structured aid — not a diagnostic test in isolation. Results should be interpreted alongside history, examination, and clinical context. Where a score crosses an actionable threshold, the next step is typically a more detailed clinical evaluation rather than a definitive diagnosis.
Answer all 1 item below to see your ASA Physical Status score and interpretation.
Each item is scored on a 6-point scale (1–6). Your score updates live as you answer.
All scoring runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere — close the tab and the answers are gone.
ASA Physical Status uses simple summation: each item's selected response is converted to a numeric value, and the values are added to produce a total score. Reverse-scored items are inverted before summation.
Scoring notes: Educational use only.
The cutoffs below are drawn from the published validation literature. Always interpret in clinical context.
| Score range | Band | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 1–1 | Class I | Healthy. |
| 2–2 | Class II | Mild disease. |
| 3–3 | Class III | Severe disease. |
| 4–4 | Class IV | Life-threatening. |
| 5–5 | Class V | Moribund. |
| 6–6 | Class VI | Brain-dead donor. |
This is an illustrative walkthrough, not a real patient. Follow the same four steps with your own answers — or use the live calculator at the top of this page.
Read each question and choose the response that best fits. Each response has a number next to it — that number is the item's score. The example below uses illustrative answers.
| # | Item | Example response | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physical status | IV — Severe systemic disease that is a constant threat to life | 4 |
Add up all the item scores you noted in Step 1.
4 = 4
Find the row in the interpretation table whose range contains your total:
Total = 4 falls between 4 and 4 → Class IV
Class IV. Life-threatening.
A score is one input alongside history and examination. ASA Physical Status supports clinical judgment — it does not replace it.
If ASA Physical Status doesn't fit your context, related instruments in anesthesia include:
| Scale | Measures | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| APGAR Score | Rapid assessment of newborn at 1 and 5 min | 5 | — |
| CHA2DS2-VASc | Annual stroke risk in non-valvular atrial fibrillation | 8 | — |
| CURB-65 | 30-day mortality in community-acquired pneumonia | 5 | — |
| Glasgow Coma Scale | Level of consciousness after head injury | 3 | — |
| HAS-BLED | 1-year risk of major bleeding on oral anticoagulation | 9 | — |
| HEART Score | 6-week MACE risk in ED patients with chest pain | 5 | — |
| Katz ADL | Functional independence in basic ADLs | 6 | — |
| mMRC Dyspnea Scale | Functional impact of breathlessness | 1 | — |
ASA Physical Status (ASA Physical Status Classification) is a validated instrument that assesses pre-operative health status. It is designed for clinicians, medical students, evidence-synthesis researchers. The 1 items are summed to produce a total score.
ASA Physical Status contains 1 items. Item scores are summed to produce the total. Scores run from 1 to 6, grouped into 6 interpretation bands from ‘Class I’ up to ‘Class VI’.
On the ASA Physical Status (total score 1–6), scores of 6 fall in the ‘Class VI’ band — interpreted as: Brain-dead donor. The full ladder is: 1 — Class I: Healthy.; 2 — Class II: Mild disease.; 3 — Class III: Severe disease.; 4 — Class IV: Life-threatening.; 5 — Class V: Moribund.; 6 — Class VI: Brain-dead donor. A higher score reflects a more severe presentation, and crossing a cutoff is a prompt to step up assessment or care — but these bands are screening thresholds, not diagnoses.
Scores of 1 fall in the ‘Class I’ band: Healthy. A low score is reassuring but does not by itself rule out the underlying condition — if symptoms or clinical suspicion persist, reassess over time or use a complementary evaluation rather than relying on the number alone.
Yes — ASA Physical Status is in the public domain and free for clinical, educational, and research use without permission. You can use this calculator and the scale itself freely; if you publish results or reproduce the scale, cite the original source paper.
ASA Physical Status Classification System. American Society of Anesthesiologists; updated 2020. This is the original publication for the ASA Physical Status — the reference to cite when reporting results.
No. ASA Physical Status is a structured assessment aid, not a diagnostic test. Its proper role is clinical assessment of pre-operative health status — it standardizes assessment and flags who needs closer evaluation, but the result must be weighed alongside history, examination, and clinical context. When a score conflicts with your clinical impression, clinical judgment takes precedence; treatment decisions should never rest on a screening score alone.
ASA Physical Status is supported by the following peer-reviewed sources: