🎗️ Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS)
The Karnofsky Performance Status scores a patient's functional capacity and self-care from 0 to 100.
Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS)
Performance status
When to use
Select the descriptor that best matches the patient; the tool returns the KPS value and a self-care band.
How it works
KPS is a single 0–100 ordinal scale in 10-point steps; ≥80 ok, 60–70 intermediate, 40–50 warning, <40 poor.
Key points
- KPS ≥70 generally indicates a patient able to tolerate active anticancer therapy, while <40 favors supportive/palliative goals (original synthesis · not guideline verbatim).
- KPS maps approximately to ECOG (KPS 90–100 ≈ ECOG 0, 70–80 ≈ ECOG 1) and the two are often used interchangeably.
- Performance status is one of the strongest independent predictors of survival across cancers.
References
- Karnofsky DA, Burchenal JH. The clinical evaluation of chemotherapeutic agents in cancer. 1949.
- Schag CC, et al. Karnofsky performance status revisited: reliability, validity, and guidelines. J Clin Oncol. 1984.
Decision support for licensed clinicians only; not a substitute for clinical judgement, diagnosis or local protocols.