INTERACTIVE CONFERENCE VOTING

We describe and analyze opinion polling results from interactive votin g procedures undertaken before and after presentations during the Outc ome Measures in Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Trials Conference (OMERA CT II) in Ottawa, Canada, June 30-July 2, 1994. The scoring procedure was a matched voting design; when a participant used the same keypad a t the beginning and end of voting, change within a participant could b e estimated, Participants, experienced in the rheumatic diseases inclu ded clinicians, researchers, methodologists, regulators, and represent atives of the pharmaceutical industry. Patients under consideration we re those with any rheumatic diseases, Questions were constructed to ev aluate the change in voting behavior expected from the content of the presentation. Statistically significant and substantively important ch anges were evident in most questions.