ReviewQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2021
Triangulation of multiple meaningful change thresholds for patient-reported outcome scores.
Review 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 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The minimal important difference of patient-reported outcome measures related to female urinary incontinence: a systematic review.BMC medical research methodology · 2024Pooled it
- Which lumbar spinal stenosis patients will improve with nonsurgical treatment? A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2025Trial
- Defining clinically meaningful thresholds for forced vital capacity in patients with neuromuscular disorders: Lessons learned from the COMET study in Pompe disease.Journal of neuromuscular diseases · 2025Trial
- Psychometric validation of the severity of chronic cough diary, leicester cough questionnaire, and a cough severity visual analogue scale in patients with refractory chronic cough.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2025Trial
- Psychometric evaluation of the HFDD, PROMIS SD SF 8b, and MENQOL questionnaire in women experiencing vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2025Trial
- Meaningful change threshold estimation for the non-small cell lung cancer symptom assessment questionnaire (NSCLC-SAQ): psychometric analysis from a phase 3 trial (LIBRETTO-431).Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Validity, reliability, responsiveness, and clinically meaningful change threshold estimates of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network-Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer Symptom Index (NFBSI-16).Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2024Trial
- Reliability and responsiveness of the D12 and validity of its scores as a measure of dyspnoea severity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis-related interstitial lung disease.BMJ open respiratory research · 2023Trial
- Defining a Clinically Meaningful Within-Person Change Threshold for the Psychomotor Vigilance Test in Narcolepsy Type 1.Therapeutic innovation & regulatory science · 2026Article
- Interpreting patient-reported outcomes after ischemic stroke: defining minimal important difference in EQ-5D across recovery phases.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2026Observational
- Development and validation of a Quality of Life and Treatment Satisfaction measure in feline osteoarthritis.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Defining score interpretation thresholds for clinical outcome assessments: a review of terminology and reporting recommendations.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2025Review
- Article
- Minimally important difference and responsiveness to change for numerical rating scale of menstrual pain severity: a psychometric study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Psychometric evaluation of the Adelphi Adherence Questionnaire (ADAQ©) in adults with osteoarthritis.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2024Article
- Estimating the minimally important difference for the EQ-5D-5L and EORTC QLQ-C30 in cancer.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2024Review
- Psychometric evaluation of the near activity visual questionnaire presbyopia (NAVQ-P) and additional patient-reported outcome items.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2024Article
- Validation of the Investigator Global Assessment of Chronic Hand Eczema (IGA-CHE): a new clinician reported outcome measure of CHE severity.Archives of dermatological research · 2024Article
- Development and Psychometric Validation of a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure to Assess the Signs and Symptoms of Chronic Hand Eczema: The Hand Eczema Symptom Diary (HESD).Dermatology and therapy · 2024Article
- From Meaningful Outcomes to Meaningful Change Thresholds: A Path to Progress for Establishing Digital Endpoints.Therapeutic innovation & regulatory science · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe notion of what constitutes meaningful differences or changes in patient-reported outcome scores is represented by meaningful change thresholds (MCTs). Applying multiple methods to estimate MCTs inevitably results in a range of estimates; however, a single estimate or small range is sought in practice to enable consistent interpretation of scores. While current recommendations for triangulation are appropriate in principle, the vital step of moving from all estimates to a value or small range lacks clarity and is subjective in nature. This article aims to review current triangulation approaches and provide more robust recommendations than what is currently available.
methodsCurrent approaches to perform triangulation are described and discussed. Anchor-based estimates are focussed upon due to their recognition as the most valid and developed approach. Recommendations for triangulation are provided.
resultsA correlation-weighted average of MCT estimates is recommended to triangulate multiple MCT estimates derived from a single study into a single value, where increased weighting is given to stronger anchor measures. The choice of method to triangulate estimates from several published studies is highly dependent on the availability of information within the publications. MCTs designed for between-group differences, within-group changes, and within-individual changes should be considered separately.
conclusionThe recommendations within this article provide a reliable and transparent approach to triangulation when a single value is sought, based on meta-analytic approaches. This approach is preferable to a simple mean of estimates where all are weighted equally, or through 'eyeballing' plotted estimates which is unreliable. We encourage researchers to adopt these methods, but to remain aware of the limitations within each method and further nuances in study design that result in heterogeneity. Sensitivity analyses with a range of plausible values are encouraged; however, the recommendations provide a suitable starting value for inferences. Unresolved issues in triangulation, requiring further exploration, are highlighted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
34319532What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.