The exam antipsychotic prescribers are supposed to repeat, and rarely explain
The AIMS is widely recommended for periodic tardive dyskinesia screening in people on antipsychotics. The paper that explains how to do it says few guidelines exist on using it in practice, and that it is not specific to the disorder.
We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: The exam's sensitivity and specificity for tardive dyskinesia are not established in this record; the authors themselves say it is not specific. How often it should be repeated is guideline-dependent and not stated here.
Significant findings
Most of the forms on this site come before a prescription. This one comes after. The Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale is the twelve-item examination for tardive dyskinesia, the movement disorder that antipsychotics can cause and that can be permanent. It is a 1976 National Institute of Mental Health instrument in the public domain.
The practice paper that explains how to administer it says the exam "has been widely recommended for periodic screening for tardive dyskinesia and follow-up of patients diagnosed with the disorder. However, few guidelines exist about how to use the examination in clinical practice." The authors discuss "for whom, when, and how the AIMS examination can be used", amplify the original instructions, and note "that the AIMS examination is not specific for tardive dyskinesia."
Worth asking
If you take an antipsychotic, the question is not whether you have been screened before starting. It is whether anyone has done this exam since, and how often. It takes a few minutes and costs nothing. If nobody has done one, that is the question for your next appointment.
Source
How to examine patients using the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale — Munetz MR, Benjamin S (1988)
Read the source: https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.39.11.1172
DOI: 10.1176/ps.39.11.1172
How this was scored
- Study design
- not recorded
- Funding
- not recorded
- Published in
- not recorded
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- not recorded
- Conflicts disclosed
- not recorded
- Independent of proponent
- not recorded
- Retracted
- No
We have not finished checking this source, so there is no scoring to show yet. “We have not checked this yet” and “this is disputed” are different statements, so no scored band is shown rather than a low one.
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published September 17, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "not yet assessed". We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. One caveat travels with that badge: The exam's sensitivity and specificity for tardive dyskinesia are not established in this record; the authors themselves say it is not specific. How often it should be repeated is guideline-dependent and not stated here. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
How to examine patients using the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale — Munetz MR, Benjamin S (1988). DOI: 10.1176/ps.39.11.1172. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.