Minimal important difference

NewsBot · Mar 6, 2008

Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.
Minimal important difference: Values for the Foot Health Status Questionnaire, Foot Function Index and Visual Analogue Scale
Karl B. Landorf and Joel A. Radford
The Foot Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2008, Pages 15-19

Background
There is a common misperception that a statistically significant result in clinical research equates to a meaningful or worthwhile outcome for patients. However, not all statistically significant findings are considered important by patients.

Objective
This research project aimed to calculate the minimal important difference for commonly used outcome measures in research related to the feet.

Methods
Data from 175 participants from two trials that evaluated conservative interventions for plantar fasciitis were used to determine minimal important differences for the following outcome measures: the Foot Health Status Questionnaire, the original Foot Function Index and a Visual Analogue Scale used to measure pain. The mean change in the outcome measure was compared to a simple global question of improvement. The amount of change in the outcome measure that related to “a little change” in the global improvement question represented the minimal important difference.

Results
For the Foot Health Status Questionnaire the following minimal important differences were found: 14 for pain, 7 for function and 9 for general foot health. Similar results were found for the Foot Function Index: 12 for pain, 7 for disability and 7 for Total Foot Function Index. The minimal important difference for the Visual Analogue Scale was 9 mm.

Conclusion
Our findings can be used to help interpret results from clinical trials that have used these outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, particular for the treatment of plantar fasciitis. Researchers can also utilise these minimal important differences to assist in prospective sample size calculations for clinical trials, although caution is required for trials on disorders other than plantar fasciitis
Click to expand...

NewsBot · May 15, 2010

Minimal Important Difference (MID) of two commonly used outcome measures for foot problems
Karl B Landorf , Joel A Radford and Susie Hudson
Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 2010, 3:7doi:10.1186/1757-1146-3-7

Background
The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Foot Health Status Questionnaire (FHSQ) are two commonly used outcome measures for evaluating foot health. This study aimed to calculate the Minimal Important Difference (MID) of the VAS and the FHSQ.

Methods
184 participants with plantar heel pain were recruited from the general public to take part in two randomised trials (92 participants in each trial) that studied the effectiveness of two conservative interventions for plantar heel pain. Data from these participants were used to calculate the MIDs of the VAS and the FHSQ. An anchor-based method was used to calculate the MIDs. Two distinct types of pain were investigated for the VAS: average pain and first-step pain. All four domains of the FHSQ were investigated: foot pain, foot function, footwear and general foot health.

Results
The MID for the VAS using the anchor-based approach was -8 mm (95% CI: -12 to -4) for average pain and -19 mm (95% CI: -25 to -13) for first-step pain on the 100 mm VAS. The MID for the FHSQ was 13 points (95% CI: 6 to 19) for pain and 7 points (95% CI: 1 to 13) for function. The MID for the footwear domain of the FHSQ was -2 points (95% CI: -8 to 4) and 0 points (95% CI: -7 to 6) for the general foot health domain of the FHSQ.

Conclusion
The results of this study provide additional evidence for MID values of the VAS and the FHSQ for plantar heel pain. This is important for clinicians and researchers as it provides a greater understanding of how much improvement is required by a patient before a minimal, worthwhile change is experienced. The calculated MIDs will also assist researchers with prospective sample size calculations.
Click to expand...

David Smith · May 15, 2010

I kind of wonder what these measures are for. Are they to convince the clinician or the patient that the intervention did some good, because I'm sure the patient will know without any help.

Dave

NewsBot · May 14, 2019

Minimal Clinically Important Difference of Commonly Used Hip, Knee, Foot and Ankle Specific Questionnaires: A Systematic Review.
Çelik D, Çoban Ö, Kılıçoğlu Ö
J Clin Epidemiol. 2019 May 9

OBJECTIVE:
Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) has become the most important psychometric property for interpreting change individual's responses over time from the patient's perspective, evaluating study results and planning sample sizes. The purpose was to synthesize and critically appraise MCID of the most frequently used hip, knee and foot and ankle specific patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING:
A search was conducted on PubMed, Cochrane Library and Web of Science from each site's respective inception through January 2019 for MCID in 25 PROs. The studies reporting their results with anchor-based method were included.

RESULTS:
228 full-text articles were assessed for the eligibility and 48 were included in the final evaluation. Our synthesis provides a comprehensive assessment of MCID for 16 disease-specific PROs. MCID of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Index (37.5%), International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Form and Knee Injury (14.5%) and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (14.5%) were found mostly presented PROs. Studies mainly (85%) used ROC analysis to elicit MCID.

CONCLUSION:
MCID is increasingly used as a measure of patient's improvement. However, MCID varied based on the analytic methods, study population, type of disease, the baseline status, change in values and treatments and patient demographics. Therefore, it should be interpreted with caution.
Click to expand...

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

David Smith Well-Known Member

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

Effects of wearing minimalist shoes on a child’s foot strength

Hallux Valgus Foot Following a 12-week Minimalist Footwear Intervention

Supportive or minimal shoes

Walking in minimalist shoes to strengthen the foot muscles

Two weeks after minimally invasive surgery toe problems

Minimally invasive surgery to treat interdigital helomas

Minimalist running shoes for hallux valgus

Share This Page