How to Estimate the Minimal Clinically Important Difference: An Overview.

Abstract

The minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is a threshold above which a score change would represent a change in symptoms that is noticeable by patients, and it has become a standard approach in the interpretation of clinical relevance of changes in PROMs at a population level. Given the lack of a methodological gold standard, high variability is the main limitation of MCID. Reporting both anchor and distribution-based MCID estimates is a strategy that guarantees both patient-perceived clinical relevance and statistical significance.