Outcome Measure Selection

On this page you will find links to information pertaining to the selection of outcome measures for clinical trials and studies.

Systematic Review

For information about how you might conduct a systematic review of functional scales, refer to ROM's Outline Measures Review and Selection Guidelines.

Selecting Patient Reported Outcome Measures

Refer to:

  • Evaluating patient-based outcome measures for use in clinical trials (Health Technology Assessment 1998, Vol. 2: No. 14)

    "For the purpose of this review, by patient-based outcome measures we mean questionnaires or related forms of assessment that patients complete by themselves or, when necessary, others on their behalf complete, in order that evidence is obtained of their experiences and concerns in relation to health status, health-related quality of life (QoL) and the results of treatments received. Although these measures have been developed for a number of other applications, this review is concerned with their use in clinical trials. There is now an enormous array of such measures that can be used in clinical trials. The purpose of this review is to make clear the criteria investigators should havein mind when they select patient-based outcome measures at the stage of designing a clinical trial.

    The first purpose of the review is that the diversity and reasons for diversity of available instruments are made clear to the reader. Patient-based outcome measures have been developed to serve a variety of different functions, and it is therefore important to appreciate the range, types and intended uses of such instruments. These issues are the subject matter of chapter 2 of this review.

    The second purpose of the review, covered in chapter 3, is explicitly to identify the criteria whereby instruments should be evaluated and selected for use in any given trial. We distinguish eight different criteria or considerations that are relevant to the such a selection. The reader is then provided with a summary of currently available evidence and thinking behind each of the eight criteria."