Minimally important change was estimated for the Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire after foot/ankle surgery.

Journal article

OBJECTIVES: To ascertain the smallest amounts of change for the three Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) domains that are likely to be clinically meaningful and beyond measurement error for conditions affecting the foot/ankle. Estimates were compared with those from the Short-Form 36 (SF-36). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A prospective observational study of 671 consecutive patients undergoing foot or ankle surgery at an orthopedic hospital. Before and 9 months after surgery, patients completed the MOXFQ and SF-36; transition items (anchor) asked about perceived changes in foot/ankle pain or problems since the surgery. RESULTS: Four hundred ninety-one patients completed pre- and postoperative questionnaires. Anchor-based minimal clinically important change (MCIC) values were ~13 points for each of the MOXFQ Walking/standing (W/S), Pain, and Social Interaction (S-I) domains [and greater than the standard error of measurement (SEM)]. MCIC values for all SF-36 domains fell within the SEM. Between-group MCIDs for the MOXFQ were W/S, 16.2; Pain, 9.9; S-I, 9.3. Distribution-based minimal detectable change (MDC90) values for the MOXFQ were ~11, ~12, and ~16 score points for the W/S, Pain, and S-I scales, respectively. CONCLUSION: This article provides information for aiding the interpretability of MOXFQ outcomes data and for planning future studies. The SF-36 is not recommended as a primary outcome for foot/ankle surgery.

Authors: Dawson, J; Boller, I; Doll, H; Lavis, G; Sharp, R

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Journal of clinical epidemiology
• Volume: 67
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 697-705
• Publication date: 2014-06-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.01.003
• EISSN: 1878-5921
• ISSN: 0895-4356
• Language: English
• Keywords: Foot; Questionnaires; Treatment Outcome; Ankle; Aged; Young Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Reproducibility of Results; Female; Male; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Adolescent; Adult; Prospective Studies; Middle Aged