Table 2

Main characteristics of CIRS, FCI and Charlson†
Comorbidity indices
 CIRS
 FCI
 Charlson
Items
 1. Cardiac
2. Vascular
3. Hematological
4. Respiratory
5. Ophthalmological and ORL
6. Upper gastrointestinal
7. Lower gastrointestinal
8. Hepatic and pancreatic
9. Renal
10. Genitourinary
11. Musculoskeletal and tegumental
12. Neurological
13. Endocrine, metabolic, breast
14. Psychiatric
 1. Arthritis (rheumatoid and osteoarthritis)
2. Osteoporosis
3. Asthma
4. COPD, ARDS*
5. Angina
6. Congestive heart failure or heart disease
7. Heart attack
8. Neurological disease
9. Stroke or transient ischemic attack
10. Diabetes types I and II
11. Peripheral vascular disease
12. Upper gastrointestinal disease
13. Depression
14. Anxiety or panic disorders
15. Visual impairment
16. Hearing impairment
17. Degenerative disk disease
18. Obesity and/or BMI > 30 kg/m2
 1. Myocardial infarct
2. Congestive heart failure
3. Peripheral vascular disease
4. Cerebrovascular disease
5. Dementia
6. Chronic pulmonary disease
7. Connective tissue disease
8. Ulcer disease
9. Stroke or transient ischemic attack
10. Diabetes
11. Hemiplegia
12. Moderate or severe renal disease
13. Diabetes with end organ damage
14. Any tumor
15. Leukemia
16. Lymphoma
17. Moderate or severe liver disease
18. Metastatic solid tumor
19. AIDS
Weights
 All systems weighted from 0 to 4:
0 No problem
1 Mild
2 Moderate
3 Severe
4 Extremely severe
 Presence (yes) or absence (no) of diagnoses
 Conditions from 1 to 10, weight = 1
Conditions from 11 to 16, weight = 2
Condition 17, weight = 3
Conditions 18 and 19, weight = 6
Final score
 Sum of weights assigned to each system
 Sum of "yes" answers
 Sum of weights assigned to each condition that a patient has

† CIRS = Cumulative Illness Rating Scale; FCI = Functional Comorbidity Index; Charlson = Charlson index.

* COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ARDS = acquired respiratory distress syndrome

Fortin et al. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2005 3:74   doi:10.1186/1477-7525-3-74