Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: Pediatric populations have increasingly been included in clinical research that relies on the availability and use of appropriate outcome measurement tools.
Objectives: i) To develop an inventory of valid and reliable pediatric outcome measurement tools and ii) to identify gaps in outcomes reporting in publications of pediatric randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods: The top 6 general medicine journals and top 4 pediatric journals were searched for pediatric RCTs published since 2000. Two independent reviewers conducted screening and data extraction. Variables to be extracted included: journal type (general versus pediatric), population age, sample size, condition of interest, intervention, control, primary outcome, outcome measurement tools, and information on psychometric testing.
Results: Searches identified 2229 unique references. Most (70%) were identified from pediatric journals, with ages ranging from 33 weeks gestation to 21 years. The most common condition studied was psychological disorders ($ox{n}=12$). A single intervention was tested in 57% of trials and more than one intervention was tested in 22 trials (36%). Half (48%) reported one primary outcome, while 31% did not identify a primary outcome, and 13% identified more than one. We identified 79 different scale or questionnaire-type measurement tools, from 31 studies, that measured outcomes in 21 different conditions. For 41% of these 79 tools, authors provided information on psychometric properties and included relevant citations in 28% for these properties. The most commonly reported properties were reliability (59%) and validity (41%).
Conclusions: A wide variety of pediatric outcome measurement tools are in use by researchers. Psychometric properties of measurement tools are inconsistently reported in pediatric RCTs, thus it is unclear to readers if the tools are of high quality. Developing a comprehensive database of validated pediatric outcome measures may facilitate use of high quality pediatric research.
Objectives: i) To develop an inventory of valid and reliable pediatric outcome measurement tools and ii) to identify gaps in outcomes reporting in publications of pediatric randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods: The top 6 general medicine journals and top 4 pediatric journals were searched for pediatric RCTs published since 2000. Two independent reviewers conducted screening and data extraction. Variables to be extracted included: journal type (general versus pediatric), population age, sample size, condition of interest, intervention, control, primary outcome, outcome measurement tools, and information on psychometric testing.
Results: Searches identified 2229 unique references. Most (70%) were identified from pediatric journals, with ages ranging from 33 weeks gestation to 21 years. The most common condition studied was psychological disorders ($ox{n}=12$). A single intervention was tested in 57% of trials and more than one intervention was tested in 22 trials (36%). Half (48%) reported one primary outcome, while 31% did not identify a primary outcome, and 13% identified more than one. We identified 79 different scale or questionnaire-type measurement tools, from 31 studies, that measured outcomes in 21 different conditions. For 41% of these 79 tools, authors provided information on psychometric properties and included relevant citations in 28% for these properties. The most commonly reported properties were reliability (59%) and validity (41%).
Conclusions: A wide variety of pediatric outcome measurement tools are in use by researchers. Psychometric properties of measurement tools are inconsistently reported in pediatric RCTs, thus it is unclear to readers if the tools are of high quality. Developing a comprehensive database of validated pediatric outcome measures may facilitate use of high quality pediatric research.