SynthesisHealth and quality of life outcomes2023
The anchor design of anchor-based method to determine the minimal clinically important difference: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Health and quality of life outcomes, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Clinical relevance of patient-reported outcome measures in the surgical management of focal chondral defects of the knee: a systematic review.Journal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology · 2026Pooled it
- Clinical relevance of patient-reported outcome measures in patients who have undergone total hip arthroplasty: a systematic review.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2024Pooled it
- Minimal Clinically Important Difference of the Functional Status Scale in Pediatric Neurocritical Care Patients: Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Neurocritical care · 2026Trial
- Estimating minimal, moderate, and marked clinically important differences for patient reported outcome measure in randomised controlled trial.Chinese medical journal · 2026Trial
- The minimal clinically important difference for the patient activation measure in a culturally and linguistically diverse cohort with chronic conditions.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Trial
- Establishing the minimal important change for Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life questionnaire for the prevention of opioid-induced constipation in patients with cancer pain.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Trial
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- Longitudinal data on health-related quality of life and its association with time to readmission in bladder perfusion patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Observational
- Establishing meaningful score differences for the observer-reported communication ability (ORCA) measure using the scale judgment approach with caregivers of individuals with Angelman syndrome.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Responsiveness and minimal important change of the Dutch Adult Strabismus-20 Questionnaire (Dutch-AS-20).Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Patient Acceptable Symptom State (PASS) Threshold in the Oxford Hip Score 12 Months Following Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty: Factors Associated with Failure to Achieve the Threshold and the Impact on Hip-Specific Outcomes, Quality of Life, and Satisfaction.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Defining a minimal clinically important difference for the Vanderbilt ADHD Parent Rating Scale in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2026Observational
- Patient-Centered Outcomes After Minimally Invasive Internal Splinting Versus Open Achilles Tendon Repair: Comparable Clinically Meaningful Recovery at 12 Months.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Measurement properties of the USER-Participation Restriction subscale and PROMISQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Establishing clinically important differences in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.General psychiatry · 2026Article
- Minimal Important Change of the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) and the Modified Functional SARA (f-SARA) in Patient with Subacute Infratentorial Stroke: A Multicenter Prospective Observational Study.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2026Observational
- Dose‒response relationship between exercise and hepatic steatosis: A systematic review with Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of sport and health science · 2026Review
- Validating the 2-minute walk test MCID for subacute stroke patients: A Pakistani multicenter cohort analysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Minimal important change of the knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score in patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis - using three different anchor-based methods.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPositive results for clinical outcomes should be not only statistically significant, but also clinically significant. The minimum clinically important difference (MCID) is used to define the minimum threshold of clinical significance. The anchor-based method is a classical method for ascertaining MCID. This study aimed to summarise the design of the anchors of the anchor-based method by reviewing the existing research and providing references and suggestions.
methodThis study was mainly based on literature research. We performed a systematic search using Web of Science, PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts to identify relevant articles. Data were extracted from eligible articles using a predefined data collection form. Discrepancies were resolved by discussion and the involvement of a third reviewer.
resultThree hundred and forty articles were retained for final analysis. For the design of anchors, Subjective anchors (99.12%) were the most common type of anchor used, mainly the Patient's rating of change or patient satisfaction (66.47%) and related scale health status evaluation items or scores (39.41%). Almost half of the studies (48.53%) did not assess the correlation test between the anchor and the research indicator or scale. The cut-off values and grouping were usually based on the choice of the anchor types. In addition, due to the large number of included studies, this study selected the most calculated SF-36 (28 articles) for an in-depth analysis. The results showed that the overall design of the anchor and the cut-off value were the same as above. The statistical methods used were mostly traditional (mean change, ROC). The MCID thresholds of these studies had a wide range (SF-36 PCS: 2-17.4, SF-36 MCS: 1.46-10.28), and different anchors or statistical methods lead to different results.
conclusionIt is of great importance to select several types of anchors and to use more reliable statistical methods to calculate the MCID. It is suggested that the order of selection of anchors should be: objective anchors > anchors with established MCID in subjective anchors (specific scale > generic scale) > ranked anchors in subjective anchors. The selection of internal anchors should be avoided, and anchors should be evaluated by a correlation test.
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