1 Before you use it
What it is
Ten items on functional ability — eight everyday tasks (socks, picking something off the floor, reaching a shelf, standing unsupported, climbing stairs, looking over the shoulder, physically demanding activities) plus two on coping with daily life.
When to reach for it
Alongside BASDAI, at baseline and review. The pair takes six minutes and the comparison between them is the clinical information.
Patterns it serves · 1
2 Giving it
Scoring
Ten 0–10 items, averaged to 0–10. Higher means worse function.
What it doesn’t measure
Disease activity or spinal mobility. Use BASDAI and BASMI.
Repeat it
3 Reading the score
Interpreting it
Interpret against baseline and alongside BASDAI.
BASDAI high with BASFI low = active inflammation without established structural limitation — the window where physiotherapy and medical management matter most.
BASDAI low with BASFI high = the disease is quiet but the function is lost — that is a rehabilitation problem, and it is yours.
Is the change real?
On placement
Same patient. BASFI 4.6 at intake, 3.6 at 12 weeks.
Read it as 1.0 down — 10 mm, a 22% relative change — over the verified MCID of 7 mm or 17.5% (ankylosing spondylitis). Function moved with disease activity, which is the good pattern. A BASFI that stayed high while BASDAI fell would be the rehabilitation problem, and it would be yours.
Do keep the function work weighted to the items still scoring high — bending, socks, stairs — and re-score with the BASDAI at the next medical review.
Student trap. Reporting BASFI without BASDAI. Neither number means much alone — the relationship between them is what directs care.
Official source: basdai.com. We don't host the form.
This is a learning tool. It does not diagnose patients and does not replace your clinical educator.
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