Outcome assessment in clinical studies - what should I choose?

Summary

There is no single, perfect outcome measure but inexpensive, simple outcome measures are available allowing meaningful research in private practice and the academic setting. Validated owner questionnaires are an example of such outcome measures. Other simple but objective outcome measures may be applicable depending on the specific disease studied (such as radiographic assessment of bone healing or implant failure etc.). More sophisticated outcome measures include gait analysis and accelerometry. Current research studying musculoskeletal injuries should include at least one validated outcome measure.

Outcome measures in clinical research

Clinical research provides unique challenges since there is a much larger variability in the patient population compared to experimental research. Unfortunately, no single outcome measure is able to reliably detect a treatment effect in dogs with musculoskeletal disease. As such a combination of multiple outcome measures evaluating different aspects of the pain and dysfunction associated with musculoskeletal disease is ideal.¹ The following provides an outline of reported outcome measures that should be considered for use in clinical studies. [...]