CLINICAL OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT IN MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS

This article represents initial deliberation of an international task force appointed by the US National Multiple Sclerosis Society to devel op recommendations for optimal clinical assessment tools for multiple sclerosis clinical trials. Presented within this article are the key i ssues identified by the task force during its initial year of delibera tion. These include the precise purpose for a clinical assessment tool , the clinical dimensions to be measured in a multidimensional outcome measure, desirable attributes of an optimal clinical outcome measure, the complexities af multidimensional outcome measures, the relative m erits of categorical clinical ratings and quantitative functional asse ssments, and a number of other important design issues that relate to the use of a multidimensional outcome measure. An action plan for anal ysis of existing data is summarized, as are the plans for more detaile d recommendations front the task force.