Tip of the Week Archive

If an Outcome Measure includes a scale or a score (for example, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, or Ham-D), but not enough information about the scale is included, the record may be rejected with the following comment:

“Major Issue: The Measure includes a scale. Please provide the following scale information…”

To address this, include the following information about the scale in the Outcome Measure description:

• The full name of the scale (not just the abbreviation)
• What it measures
• Minimum/maximum possible scores
• What do higher or lower scores represent? Are higher scores better or worse, and is there a “normal” range?
• If the scale measures several things and then sums or averages them to come up with a final score, describe how scores are combined. For example, a questionnaire in which 10 tasks are rated 1-5 in difficulty, and the score is the average of all 10 responses.

Unacceptable Outcome Measure:

• Outcome 1: “Depression”
• Description: “Ham-D score will be assessed at baseline.”

Acceptable Outcome Measure:

• Outcome 1: “Severity of Depression as Measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale”
• Description: “The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (Ham-D) is used for rating the severity of depressive symptoms. Possible scores range from 0 to 50, with higher scores indicating greater severity of depression.”
• Time Frame: Baseline