1 Before you use it
What it is
One question: since we started, are you better, the same, or worse — and by how much?
Usually a −7 to +7 scale, anchored at a very great deal worse, no change, and a very great deal better.
When to reach for it
At every reassessment, and especially at the decision points your pattern pages already set — the 6-week, 8-week and 12-week reviews.
It is the measure that decides whether to continue, change or refer, and it takes one question.
Patterns it serves · 134
2 Giving it
Scoring
Single item. Record the number and the words the patient used, because the words are what you will act on.
Versions vary between 7, 11 and 15 points. Pick one and use the same one throughout an episode of care — switching mid-episode makes the series meaningless.
What it doesn’t measure
It has no baseline of its own. It cannot tell you what changed or by how much in any objective sense — only the patient's impression of the direction and size.
Pair it with PSFS and the NPRS. GROC gives the verdict; those two give the evidence.
3 Reading the score
Interpreting it
Around ±3 and above is commonly treated as a clinically meaningful change. No verified threshold is carried in our library and none is printed here.
Its known weakness is recall. A GROC asked at 12 weeks is heavily influenced by how the patient feels today rather than by how they felt in week one — so it is best used at short intervals and read alongside a measure that has an actual baseline.
Is the change real?
Student trap. Asking it at 12 weeks and treating the answer as an accurate memory of week one. It isn't — ask it often and early.
Official source: null. 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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