Are simple questions a valid measure of outcome after stroke?

We aimed to further establish the validity of a novel measure of stroke outcome which has been developed for use in large randomised trials. One hundred and fifty-two survivors from a consecutive series of 266 hospital-admitted stroke patients were interviewed 1 year after their stroke and asked the 'simple questions' before being assessed using the Barthel Index, Oxford Handicap Scale, Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys Disability Instrument, Frenchay Activities Index, Hodkinson Abbreviated Mental Test score and the General Health Questionnaire. The patients' or carers' responses to the question 'Do you/they require help from another person with everyday activities?' quite accurately predicted their scores on the measures of physical functioning but were less accurate in predicting cognitive or psychological state. Their responses to the question 'Do you fell that you/they have made a complete recovery from your/their stroke?' predicted their physical functioning best but less well than the 'dependency' question. Our results suggest that 'simple questions' may be a reasonably valid measure of functional outcome after stroke.