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Reviewing and selecting outcome measures for use in routine practice
Author(s) -
MPH Joanne Greenhalgh BSc,
MPhil Andrew F. Long BA MSc,
MSc Alison J. Brettle BA,
BA Maria J. Grant
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2753.1998.tb00097.x
Subject(s) - checklist , outcome (game theory) , audit , medicine , context (archaeology) , health care , intervention (counseling) , medline , nursing , psychology , paleontology , mathematics , management , mathematical economics , political science , law , economics , cognitive psychology , biology , economic growth
For the successful achievement of evidence‐based practice, clinicians, managers and purchasers need evidence on whether a particular intervention works and ways to judge the appropriateness of the outcome criteria and measures used. Guidance is needed on what outcome measure to use, especially within routine clinical care settings. Beginning with a re‐clarification of the difference between a health status and an outcome measure, the paper presents an evaluative checklist for use by clinical audit and research staff to review outcome measures for use in routine care settings. Central features include the user‐centredness of the measure, its psychometric properties, feasibility of use and utility. The applicability of the checklist is illustrated for outcome measurement in diabetes and stroke care. A modified form of the checklist is proposed for use by the busy clinician as an aid to the critical review of research papers within the context of evidence‐based practice and to aid health care practitioners' choice of which outcome measure(s) to use within routine clinical care.