Community EP051 - Continuing to Shorten the ISNCSCI (or "ASIA") Exam with Dr. Stephen Burns

Community EP051 - Continuing to Shorten the ISNCSCI (or "ASIA") Exam with Dr. Stephen Burns

From SCI Science Perspectives by American Spinal Injury Association

October 30, 2025 · 27 min · Episode 51

About this episode

Dr. Stephen Burns discusses the process of shortening the ISNCSCI exam to improve its efficiency and accuracy.

Join us this episode for a conversation with Stephen Burns, MD, physiatrist, Professor of PM&R at University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, and Director of SCI Service at VA Puget Sound. In this conversation we discuss the process of shortening, or expediting, the International Standards for the Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) exam. Most people know this exam, which assigns a level and grade to their injury, as their "ASIA" exam. The paper explaining the process is titled "“ Development and validation of an algorithm for item reduction of the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury examination to determine level and severity of SCI " which was recently accepted for publication in Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation." In this paper Dr. Burns and their team discuss the process by which this rather long exam can be reduced to less than half the items with acceptable accuracy for some, but not all, types of spinal cord injury. We invite you to listen in as Dr. Burns gives an insider perspective on the new E-ISNCSCI, and trust you will enjoy this episode on making an important but long exam…

People in this episode

Guest: Stephen Burns

Topics covered

  • ISNCSCI exam
  • spinal cord injury
  • medical research
  • physiatry
  • healthcare innovation

Keywords

  • ISNCSCI
  • ASIA exam
  • spinal cord injury
  • medical examination
  • physiatrist
  • E-ISNCSCI

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Washington School of Medicine, VA Puget Sound, American Spinal Injury Association, Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, ASIA

Books & works: Development and validation of an algorithm for item reduction of the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury examination to determine level and severity of SCI

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