Arthritis Res Ther. 2010;12(1):104. doi: 10.1186/ar2910. Epub 2010 Feb 1.
Evaluation of patient reported outcomes, and in particular physical function, have gained increasing importance in research and therapy of patients with rheumatic diseases. Most instruments that are used for that purpose are rigid and suffer from floor and ceiling effects when used in patients whose physical function differs from the average. A new approach to the assessment of physical function uses computerised adaptive testing, by which precision and reliability of the measurement can be achieved for most patients, while even requiring less time for the assessment. Well calibrated and tested item and large item data banks are a prerequisite for this purpose, a process that is summarised in the present report by Bruce and colleagues.
评估患者报告的结果，特别是身体功能，在风湿性疾病患者的研究和治疗中变得越来越重要。为此目的而使用的大多数工具都是僵化的，并且在身体功能与平均值不同的患者中使用时会受到地板和天花板效应的影响。一种评估身体功能的新方法是使用计算机自适应测试，通过这种方法，可以为大多数患者实现测量的精度和可靠性，而评估所需的时间甚至更少。为此，需要经过良好校准和测试的项目和大型项目数据库，Bruce 及其同事在本报告中对此进行了总结。
