Current status of the Matson Evaluation of Drug Side Effects (MEDS).
The MEDS scale is the most researched tool for tracking psychotropic side effects in people with ID—add it to your med-review kit.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Matson et al. (2013) wrote a narrative review. They looked at every study that had used the Matson Evaluation of Drug Side Effects (MEDS).
They wanted to see how well the scale works for people with intellectual disability. They did not run new tests; they just summed up past work.
What they found
The review shows the MEDS is the most studied tool for spotting side effects from psychotropic drugs in people with ID.
No numbers are given, but the authors say the scale is ready for clinical use and needs more psychometric work.
How this fits with other research
Hoekstra-van Duijn et al. (2025) extends this call. They tested the Dutch MEDS and found good to excellent inter-rater reliability. Their data give the exact psychometric proof the 2013 paper asked for.
Oliver et al. (2002) and Gustafsson et al. (2005) used the same method—translating and testing a scale for adults with ID—but they looked at the Reiss Screen and PIMRA instead of MEDS. These papers show the field keeps making sure our tools work in other languages.
There is no clash; each study checks a different tool, so they sit side-by-side on the clinician’s shelf.
Why it matters
If you serve adults with ID who take psychotropic meds, you need a quick way to catch side effects. The MEDS is free, short, and now has Dutch reliability data to back it up. Start using it during medication reviews and you will have numbers to share with the prescribing doctor.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The Matson Evaluation of Drug Side Effects (MEDS) is currently the best established and most researched measure of drug side effects in the intellectual disability (ID) literature. Initial research was conducted on its psychometric properties such as reliability and validity. More recent research studies have used the measure to determine the interactive effects of severity of drug side effects on adaptive and social behaviors as well as symptoms of commonly medicated psychiatric conditions among persons with ID. Most recently the MEDS has been used to study potential risk factors of psychotropic drugs. The present study was written to review the current status of MEDS research in the broader context of psychotropic drug side effect research in general.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.02.030