Abstract
Background. Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) is a commonly used scale to assess a patient's functional status. Methods. Between September 1999 and March 2000, 117 patients were independently evaluated and assigned KPS scores by both an attending physician and a resident physician at the time of radiation therapy simulation. Results. Both attending and resident median assigned KPS score was 80. Attending and resident KPS scores were identical for 50 patients (43%). When KPS scores differed, this difference was of the smallest incremental value (10 points) in 50 patients (75%). The Pearson correlation coefficient is 0.85, significant at the 0.01 level. Conclusion. KPS scoring by radiation oncology attending physicians is similar to that by resident physicians.