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Benchmarking and the percentile assessment of RA: adding a new dimension to rheumatic disease measurement
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It is somewhat surprising that the importance of benchmarking1 was not generally realised until the last decade.2-5 Benchmarking conveys extraordinary advantages in the understanding of clinical trials, observational studies, and ordinary clinic patients by providing guidelines of expected values. Benchmarks allow us to assess the status of patients, whereas most clinical trials are concerned only with change. Status tells us how patients are doing today and predicts short and long term outcomes, including costs, work disability, and death. Change describes treatment efficacy, but has little to do with prediction or outcome. In the long run, it is status not change that is important.
Benchmarking requires a relevant, generalisable, large, well
characterised population sample that is representative of either a
population based or a clinical based cohort of patients with rheumatoid
arthritis (RA). In the former instance, milder cases and cases not
currently meeting RA may be included. The clinical sample
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Pincus, T, Sokka, T, Chung, C P, Cawkwell, G
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