Heterogeneity of treatment responses in rheumatoid arthritis using group based trajectory models: secondary analysis of clinical trial data.

Background: Traditionally rheumatoid arthritis (RA) trials classify patients as responders and non-responders; they ignore the potential range of treatment responses. Group Based Trajectory Models (GBTMs) provide a more refined approach. They identify patient subgroups with similar outcome trajectories.

Variations in acute stroke care and the impact of organised care on survival from a European perspective: the European Registers of Stroke (EROS) investigators.

Background: The need for stroke care is escalating with an ageing population, yet methods to estimate the delivery of effective care across countries are not standardised or robust. Associations between quality and intensity of care and stroke outcomes are often assumed but have not been clearly demonstrated.

Objective: To examine variations in acute care processes across six European populations and investigate associations between the delivery of care and survival.

Predicting independent survival after stroke: a European study for the development and validation of standardised stroke scales and prediction models of outcome.

Background: Accurate prediction of stroke outcome is desirable for clinical management and provision of appropriate care, and potentially for stratification of patients into studies.

Objectives: To investigate the predictive properties of validated scales and severity measures, and their constituent variables, and to compare their prediction in six European populations.

Methods: We studied 2033 first-ever stroke patients in population-based stroke registers in France, Italy, Lithuania, the UK, Spain and Poland.