ArticleJournal of hand surgery global online2026
Reported Minimal Clinically Important Differences for Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Hand and Upper-Extremity Surgery: A Systematic Review.
Article in Journal of hand surgery global online, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Functional Outcomes of Miniplate/Screw Versus Suzuki Frame Fixation in Eaton Type III Middle Phalanx Base Fractures: A Case Series.Journal of hand surgery global online · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose: In hand and upper-extremity surgery, there are many patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) used to quantify symptom severity and track patient progress. However, there remains variability and uncertainty regarding the true or most appropriate minimal clinically important difference (MCID) values for each. This systematic review summarized the reported MCIDs for the most commonly used outcome instruments in hand and upper-extremity surgery. Methods: The published literature was searched using strategies designed by a medical librarian for the concepts of MCID; the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire; the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Score (DASH); the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire; carpel tunnel syndrome; and other hand/upper limb disorders with related synonyms. These strategies were executed in Embase, Ovid-Medline All, CINAHL Plus, Scopus, and Web of Science from database inception. Studies retrieved from the database literature search were imported to Endnote. Any duplicate citations were identified and removed. The remaining citations were imported to Covidence screening software for further screening analysis. Results: In total, 25 studies published from 1998 to 2025 were included in final data extraction and analysis. Among these, 9 (36.0%) reported the MCID value for BCTQ, 4 (16.0%) reported the MCID value for the MHQ and DASH, and 12 (48.0%) reported the MCID value for the Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand. Conclusions: This comprehensive systematic review summarized the reported MCIDs for the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire, DASH, Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand, and Michigan Hand Questionnaire, all of which are commonly used hand and upper-extremity PROMs. Reported MCIDs for a given PROM can vary not only with the population or diagnosis of patients included but also with the methods used to calculate meaningful change in these patients. Clinical relevance: This systematic review reports the MCIDs for common hand and upper-extremity outcome measures, providing surgeons with reference values to interpret patient-reported changes, while also demonstrating variability in MCID based on diagnosis and methodology. This can help distinguish meaningful improvement for different clinical and patient settings in addition to aid design of studies with clinically relevant end points in upper-extremity surgery.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.