RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Including Health Equity Considerations in Development of Instruments for Rheumatology Research: An Introduction to a Novel OMERACT Paradigm
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP 150
OP 152
DO 10.3899/jrheum.130812
VO 41
IS 1
A1 Jennifer O’Neill
A1 Tamara Rader
A1 Francis Guillemin
A1 Annelies Boonen
A1 Robin Christensen
A1 Anne Lyddiatt
A1 Jordi Pardo Pardo
A1 Vivian Welch
A1 Jasvinder A. Singh
A1 Peter Tugwell
YR 2014
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/41/1/150.abstract
AB The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Equity Special Interest Group (SIG) was established in 2008 to create a preliminary core set of outcome measures for clinical trials that can assess equity gaps in healthcare and the effectiveness of interventions to close or narrow gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged populations with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. At the OMERACT 11 meeting in 2012, the Equity SIG workshop focused on health assessment scales and their applicability for disadvantaged patients with MSK conditions. The intent was to determine whether the items and domains in 2 common questionnaires, the Health Assessment Questionnaire and the Medical Outcome Study Short Form-36 Survey, are appropriate for the activities and life experiences of certain disadvantaged populations, and whether completion of any of the scales would present a challenge to disadvantaged persons. To generate discussion, we considered the reading level of items in these questionnaires and whether they would be accessible to people with different levels of literacy. The group concluded that the choice of measurement instrument may contribute to “outcome measure–generated inequalities” because disadvantaged groups might have difficulty understanding some of the questions. The future work of the Equity SIG will explore the appropriateness of different measurement scales as they relate to inequities in arthritis as well as the risk of exacerbating disadvantages for patients with low literacy.