Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33269417›Full record

ArticleQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2021

Response-shift effects in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder: a secondary analysis of clinical trial data.

Carolyn E Schwartz, Roland B Stark, Brian D Stucky

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Impact of response shift on change in patient-reported outcomes: a systematic review.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Article
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  5. Long-COVID symptom burden and the experience of adversity: the importance of response-shift effects over 3 years of the pandemic.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Carolyn E SchwartzDeltaQuest Foundation, Inc, 31 Mitchell Road, Concord, MA, 01742, USA. carolyn.schwartz@deltaquest.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9173-7774
Roland B StarkDeltaQuest Foundation, Inc, 31 Mitchell Road, Concord, MA, 01742, USA.
Brian D StuckyDeltaQuest Foundation, Inc, 31 Mitchell Road, Concord, MA, 01742, USA.
DeltaQuest Foundation (United States) · USTufts Medical Center · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundResearchers have long posited that response-shift effects may obfuscate treatment effects. The present work investigated possible response-shift effects in a recent clinical trial testing a new treatment for Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (NMOSD). This pivotal trial provided impressive support for the drug Eculizumab in preventing relapse, but less strong or null results as the indicators became more subjective or evaluative. This pattern of results suggests that response-shift effects are present.

methodsThis secondary analysis utilized data from a randomized, double-blind trial evaluating the impact of Eculizumab in preventing relapses in 143 people with NMOSD. Treatment arm and then relapse status were hypothesized 'catalysts' of response shift in two series of analyses. We devised a "de-constructed" version of Oort structural-equation modeling using random-effects modeling for use in small samples. This method begins by testing an omnibus response-shift hypothesis and then, pending a positive result, implements a series of random-effects models to elucidate specific response-shift effects.

resultsIn the omnibus test, the 'standard quality-of-life (QOL) model' captured substantially less well the experience of placebo as compared to Eculizumab group. Recalibration and reconceptualization response-shift effects were detected. Detected relapse-related response shifts included recalibration, reprioritization, and reconceptualization.

conclusionsTrial patients experienced response shifts related to treatment- and relapse-related experiences. Published trial results likely under-estimated Eculizumab vs. Placebo differences due to recalibration and reconceptualization, and relapse effects due to recalibration, reprioritization, and reconceptualization. This novel random-effects- model application builds on response-shift theory and provides a small-sample method for better estimating treatment effects in clinical trials.

Indexed as

AdultAgedClinical Trials as TopicData AnalysisFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeuromyelitis OpticaQuality of LifeYoung AdultClinical trialClinician-assessed outcomeDefinitive neuromyelitis opticaNeurologicNeuromyelitis optica spectrum disorderPatient-reported outcomeResponse shift

Identifiers

PMID33269417
PMCPMC8068626
OpenAlexW3107513237

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.