BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most fatal and 
disabling stroke subtype. Widely used tools for prediction of mortality are 
fundamentally limited in that they do not account for effects of withdrawal of 
care and are not designed to predict functional recovery. We developed an acute 
clinical score to predict likelihood of functional independence.
METHODS: We prospectively characterized 629 consecutive patients with ICH at 
hospital presentation. Predictors of functional independence (Glasgow Outcome 
Score > or = 4) at 90 days were used to develop a logistic regression-based risk 
stratification scale in a random subset of two thirds and validated in the 
remaining one third of the cohort.
RESULTS: At 90 days, 162 (26%) patients achieved independence. Age, Glasgow Coma 
Scale, ICH location, volume (all P<0.0001), and pre-ICH cognitive impairment 
(P=0.005) were independently associated with Glasgow Outcome Score > or = 4. The 
FUNC score was developed as a sum of individual points (0-11) based on strength 
of association with outcome. In both the development and validation cohorts, the 
proportion of patients who achieved Glasgow Outcome Score > or = 4 increased 
steadily with FUNC score. No patient assigned a FUNC score < or = 4 achieved 
functional independence, whereas > 80% with a score of 11 did. The predictive 
accuracy of the FUNC score remained unchanged when restricted to ICH survivors 
only, consistent with absence of confounding by early withdrawal of care.
CONCLUSIONS: FUNC score is a valid clinical assessment tool that identifies 
patients with ICH who will attain functional independence and thus, can provide 
guidance in clinical decision-making and patient selection for clinical trials.