An approach to define clinical significance in prosthodontics

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

What is the smallest improvement in prosthodontic treatment that a patient perceives is beneficial?

Main

John MT, Reißmann DR et al. J Prosthodont 2009; 18: 455–460

Patient-centred outcomes are increasingly being used to replace traditional measures to assess the efficacy of treatment. The minimal important difference (MID) is the smallest improvement that a patient perceives as beneficial, 'in the absence of troublesome side effects and excessive cost'. This study determined the MID on 224 consecutive patients following the provision of fixed and removable prosthodontics. For this treatment modality, the MID was the change in the scores for the German version of Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-G) such that the patients reported 'improved a little' (in the Abstract, both this descriptor and 'a 'little improvement' and in the Results 'a little better'). The MID for prosthodontic treatment was 6 OHIP-G units. The authors state that 'determining the MID for prosthodontic procedures is an important first step in determining economic utility values... as a way of informing wider health policy'.