OMERACT: An international initiative to improve outcome measurement in rheumatology

M. Boers¹, P. Brooks², L.S. Simon³, V. Strand⁴, P. Tugwell⁵

¹Maarten Boers, MSc, MD, PhD, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ²Peter Brooks, MD, FRACP, FAFRM, FAFPHM, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; ³Lee S. Simon, MD, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; ⁴Vibeke Strand, MD, FACP, Division of Immunology, Stanford University, CA, USA; ⁵Peter Tugwell, MSc, MD, FRCPC, Department of Medicine, Ottawa University Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

ABSTRACT
OMERACT is the acronym for an international, informally organized network aimed at improving outcome measurement in rheumatology. Chaired by an executive committee it organizes consensus conferences in a 2-yearly cycle that circles the globe since 2002. Data driven recommendations are prepared and updated by expert working groups. Recommendations include core sets of measures for most of the major rheumatologic conditions. Since 2002 patients have been actively engaged in the process. OMERACT 8 will take place in Malta, May 2006 (www.omeract.org).

Key words
Outcome measures, rheumatology, clinical trial, longitudinal observational study.

Please address correspondence to: Maarten Boers, MSc, MD, PhD, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, PK 6Z 181, VU University Medical Center, Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Disclaimer: Some of this material has been published before. It is also published on the OMERACT website.

Clin Exp Rheumatol 2005; 23 (suppl. 39): S10-S13.
© CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RHEUMATOLOGY 2005.