Publications by authors named "Lara J Maxwell"

Article Synopsis
  • The OMERACT Composite Working Group held a workshop in 2023 to discuss how to effectively weight components in composite outcomes, highlighting its complexities.
  • The workshop included presentations on composite outcomes, a patient narrative, and engaging activities for participants to rank and assign weights to different domains.
  • Findings revealed challenges in achieving consensus on domain importance, emphasizing the need for systematic methods and the inclusion of patient perspectives in future composite outcome research.
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Article Synopsis
  • OMERACT wants to help its members understand and improve Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (EDI).
  • They held a workshop to discuss how to get more diverse members and made a survey to gather information about who is in their group.
  • The survey showed most members are White, female, well-educated, and mostly English speakers; they plan to focus on recruiting more diverse members and creating guidelines to help everyone promote EDI better.
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Objective: To develop a set of detailed definitions for foundational domains commonly used in OMERACT (Outcome Measures in Rheumatology) core domain sets.

Methods: We identified candidate domain definitions from prior OMERACT publications and websites and publications of major organizations involved in outcomes research for six domains commonly used in OMERACT Core Domain Sets: pain intensity, pain interference, physical function, fatigue, patient global assessment, and health-related quality of life. We conducted a two-round survey of OMERACT working groups, patient research partners, and then the OMERACT Technical Advisory Group to establish their preferred domain definitions.

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Objective: To gain consensus on the definitions and descriptions of the domains of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) core domain set for rheumatology trials evaluating shared decision making (SDM) interventions.

Methods: Following the OMERACT Handbook methods, our Working Group (WG), comprised of 90 members, including 17 patient research partners (PRPs) and 73 clinicians and researchers, had six virtual meetings in addition to email exchanges to develop draft definitions and descriptions. The WG then conducted an international survey of its members to gain consensus on the definitions and descriptions.

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Objectives: Shared decision making (SDM) is a central tenet in rheumatic and musculoskeletal care. The lack of standardization regarding SDM instruments and outcomes in clinical trials threatens the comparative effectiveness of interventions. The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) SDM Working Group is developing a Core Outcome Set for trials of SDM interventions in rheumatology and musculoskeletal health.

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Background: The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Glucocorticoid (GC) Impact Working Group has been working to develop a core domain set to measure the impact of GCs on patients living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. The mandatory domains previously identified for inclusion in all clinical trials measuring the GC effects include infection, bone fragility, mood disturbance, hypertension, diabetes, weight, fatigue, and mortality. Before progressing to instrument selection, the Working Group sought to establish precise definitions of all mandatory domains within the core domain set.

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Objective: To educate and discuss pain mechanisms (nociceptive, neuropathic, nociplastic) illuminating its possible impact when measuring different outcomes, which may modify, confound and potentially bias the outcome measures applied across various aspects of Rheumatic Musculoskeletal Diseases (RMDs) clinical trials.

Methods: In the plenary presentations, PM lectured on different pain mechanisms and impact on disease activity assessment. Data from two data sets of RMDs patients, which assessed the prevalence and impact of nociplastic pain were presented and reviewed.

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Objective: The OMERACT Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) Working Group (WG) aimed to reach agreement on a consensus-based definition and description of the core domain related to patient perception of overall well-being and disease activity.

Methods: A committee of patient research partners, clinicians, methodologists, and researchers drafted working definitions and descriptions. The WG conducted two iterative electronic stakeholder surveys to obtain consensus on domain description, definition, and the distinction between patient perception of overall well-being and disease activity.

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Background: Raynaud's phenomenon is a vasodilatory phenomenon characterised by digital pallor, cyanosis, and pain of the extremities. Primary Raynaud's phenomenon has no underlying disease associated with it, while secondary Raynaud's phenomenon is associated with connective tissue disorders such as systemic sclerosis. Systemic sclerosis causes fibrosis and commonly affects the skin and internal organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, kidney, and heart.

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Background: Involving collaborators and partners in research may increase relevance and uptake, while reducing health and social inequities. Collaborators and partners include people and groups interested in health research: health care providers, patients and caregivers, payers of health research, payers of health services, publishers, policymakers, researchers, product makers, program managers, and the public. Evidence syntheses inform decisions about health care services, treatments, and practice, which ultimately affect health outcomes.

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Article Synopsis
  • The OMERACT Foot and Ankle Working Group is creating a core outcome set to improve treatment assessments for foot and ankle disorders in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, as existing evidence is insufficient.* -
  • A scoping review analyzed 150 studies focusing on various interventions for these disorders, primarily involving conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, with foot/ankle pain being the most commonly measured outcome.* -
  • The project aims to incorporate findings and feedback from a virtual meeting to refine the core outcome set, ensuring it effectively addresses the diverse outcome domains identified.*
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Background: Foot and ankle involvement is common in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). High-quality evidence is lacking to determine the effectiveness of treatments for these disorders. Heterogeneity in the outcomes used across clinical trials and observational studies hinders the ability to compare findings, and some outcomes are not always meaningful to patients and end-users.

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Background: In most rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), global assessments of disease activity by physicians and patients are 'anchor outcomes' in therapeutic trials evaluating whether a treatment is effective.

Objectives: To compare physicians' vs patients' global assessments of disease activity in RMD trials and explore reasons for discrepancies between them.

Methods: Eligible trials were sampled from systematic reviews of treatments for RMDs by using the Cochrane database of systematic reviews (i.

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The OMERACT Technical Advisory Group recognises that working groups during the process of creating a core outcome set may identify an outcome domain that would be best represented as a composite that encapsulates these component outcome domains by bringing them together into a single outcome. A multi-outcome domain (MOD) is a within-patient combination of component outcomes, and an individual patient's evaluation depends on the observation of all of the components in that patient with a single overall rating determined according to a specified rule; which is often applicable when we consider a disease activity score. A composite outcome domain (COD) consists of a number of component outcomes and is defined as the occurrence in a patient of one, some or all of these specified components; which is often applicable when we consider the risk of adverse events or remission criteria.

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Introduction: OMERACT uses an evidence-based framework known as the 'OMERACT Filter Instrument Selection Algorithm' (OFISA) to guide decisions in the assessment of outcome measurement instruments for inclusion in a core outcome set for interventional and observational clinical trials.

Methods: A group of OMERACT imaging and patient-centered outcome methodologists worked with imaging outcome groups to facilitate the selection of imaging outcome measurement instruments using the OFISA approach. The lessons learned from this work influenced the evolution to Filter 2.

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Objective: Physical function is one of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) core outcome domains for hand osteoarthritis studies. Our aim was to select appropriate instrument(s) to measure this domain, as part of the development of a core outcome measurement set.

Methods: Following the OMERACT Filter 2.

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Objectives: Imaging is one of the most rapidly evolving fields in medicine. Unfortunately, many imaging technologies have been applied as measurement instruments without rigorous evaluation of the evidence supporting their truth, discriminatory capability and feasibility for that context of use. The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Filter 2.

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Objective: To gain consensus on the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) core domain set for rheumatology trials of shared decision making (SDM) interventions.

Methods: The process followed the OMERACT Filter 2.1 methodology, and used consensus-building methods, with patients involved since the inception.

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Background: Investigations of transparency, reproducibility and replicability in science have been directed largely at individual studies. It is just as critical to explore these issues in syntheses of studies, such as systematic reviews, given their influence on decision-making and future research. We aim to explore various aspects relating to the transparency, reproducibility and replicability of several components of systematic reviews with meta-analysis of the effects of health, social, behavioural and educational interventions.

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• Given the urgent need for credible answers to high-priority questions about the health and social impacts of COVID-19, many systematic reviewers seek to contribute their skills and expertise. • Rather than embarking on unnecessary, duplicate reviews, we encourage the evidence synthesis community to prioritise purposeful replication of systematic reviews of evidence relevant to COVID-19. • We explain why replication of systematic reviews is important, how to carry out a replication, and when to consider replication of reviews.

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This is a protocol for a co-registered Cochrane and Campbell Review (Methodology). The objectives are as follows: To identify, describe and assess methods for: when to replicate a systematic review; how to replicate a systematic review.

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Background: Tramadol is often prescribed to treat pain and is associated physical disability in osteoarthritis (OA). Due to the pharmacologic mechanism of tramadol, it may lead to fewer associated adverse effects (i.e.

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