Responsiveness of patient-based and external rating scales in multiple sclerosis: Head-to-head comparison in three clinical settings

Gold, Stefan M.; Schulz, Holger; Stein, Heike; Solf, Katrin; Schulz, Karl-Heinz; Heesen, Christoph

doi:10.1016/j.jns.2009.10.020

« Previous Next »Journal of the Neurological Sciences
Volume 290, Issue 1 , Pages 102-106, 15 March 2010

Responsiveness of patient-based and external rating scales in multiple sclerosis: Head-to-head comparison in three clinical settings

Stefan M. Gold
- Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, 635 Charles Young Dr S, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Corresponding author. Multiple Sclerosis Program, Dept Neurology, University of California Los Angeles, 635 Charles Young Dr S, Rm 479, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Tel.: +1 310 206 4640; fax: +1 310 206 7282.
Holger Schulz
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg, Germany
Heike Stein
- Institute of Neuroimmunology and Clinical MS-Research (INiMS), University Hospital Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg, Germany
Katrin Solf
- Institute of Neuroimmunology and Clinical MS-Research (INiMS), University Hospital Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg, Germany
Karl-Heinz Schulz
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Center for Transplantation Medicine, University Hospital Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg, Germany
Christoph Heesen
- Institute of Neuroimmunology and Clinical MS-Research (INiMS), University Hospital Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg, Germany

Received 7 May 2009; received in revised form 6 October 2009; accepted 21 October 2009. published online 18 November 2009.

Abstract

Background

Patient-based rating scales and especially quality of life scales have received increasing attention as secondary outcome measures in multiple sclerosis (MS). Responsiveness to health-related change of quality of life scales is thus an important property when these measures are to be used successfully in clinical trials.

Methods

We conducted an analysis of 3 cohorts of MS patients to examine responsiveness of the Hamburg Quality of Life Questionnaire for Multiple Sclerosis (HAQUAMS). One cohort consisted of patients from the outpatient clinic whose overall health status deteriorated over the course of one year (n=53), one study investigated two neurorehabilitation programs (n=20 each) and a third study investigated a low-level aerobic fitness training intervention (n=15).

Results

The total score of the HAQUAMS and several subscales was found to be responsive in all three settings. In addition, we provide minimally important difference (MID) estimates based on anchor- and distribution-based methods for all scales of the HAQUAMS.