Models rankings and scores, e.g. pain, Apgar values, etc, where there is a) implied ordering, b) no implication that the distance between each value is constant, and c) the total number of values is finite. Note that although the term �ordinal� in mathematics means natural numbers only, here any integer is allowed, since negative and zero values are often used by medical professionals for values around a neutral point. Scores are commonly encountered in various clinical assessment scales. Assigning a value to a concept should generally be done in a formal code system that defines the value, or in an applicable value set for the concept, but some concepts do not have a formal definition (or are not even represented as a concept formally, especially in questionnaires. Scores may even be assigned arbitrarily during use (hence, on Coding). The value may be constrained to an integer in some contexts of use. Examples of sets of ordinal values: -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3 -- reflex response values; 0, 1, 2 -- Apgar score values 1, 2, 3, 4,... -- ASA classification I, II, III, IV, ... -- Tanner scale

Synonyms: Ordinal ordinal