RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The OMERACT stepwise approach to select and develop imaging outcome measurement instruments: the musculoskeletal ultrasound example
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP jrheum.181158
DO 10.3899/jrheum.181158
A1 L. Terslev
A1 E. Naredo
A1 H.I. Keen
A1 G.A.W. Bruyn
A1 A. Iagnocco
A1 R. Wakefield
A1 P.G. Conaghan
A1 L.J. Maxwell
A1 D.E. Beaton
A1 M. Boers
A1 M.A. D’Agostino
YR 2019
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2019/03/19/jrheum.181158.abstract
AB Objective To describe the OMERACT stepwise approach to select and develop an imaging instrument with musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) as example. Methods The OMERACT US working group (WG) developed a 4-step process to select instruments based on imaging. Step 1 applies the OMERACT Framework Instrument Selection Algorithm (OFISA) to existing outcome measurement instruments that use US for a specific indication. This step requires a literature review focused on truth, discrimination and feasibility aspects of the instrument for the target pathology. When the evidence is completely unsatisfactory, Step 2 is a consensus process to define the US characteristics of the target pathology including one or more so-called ‘elementary lesions’. Step 3 applies the agreed definitions to the image, evaluates their reliability, develops a severity grading of the lesion(s) at a given anatomical site and evaluates the impact of the acquisition technique on feasibility and lesion(s) detection. Step 4 applies and assesses the definition(s) and scoring system(s) in cross-sectional studies and multicenter trials. The imaging instrument is now ready to pass a final OFISA check. Results With this process in place, the US WG now has 18 subgroups developing US instruments in 10 different diseases. Half of them have passed step 3, and the groups for enthesitis (spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis), synovitis and tenosynovitis (rheumatoid arthritis) have finished step 4. Conclusion The US WG approach to select and develop outcome measurement instruments based on imaging has been repeatedly and successfully applied in US but is generic for imaging and fits with OMERACT Filter 2.1.