Table 4.

Bivariate (unadjusted) and multivariate (adjusted) MCIDs

			Improvement						Worsening
			MDC95	MCID	95% CI	ES	SRM	SMD	MDC95	MCID	95% CI	ES	SRM	SMD
WOMAC	Pain	b	3.83	8.74	1.73 to 15.74	0.41	0.41	0.47	−3.84	−6.09	−13.11 to 0.92	−0.28	−0.29	−0.34
		m	3.37	7.09	0.93 to 13.25	0.33	0.34	0.38	−3.62	−7.07	−13.67 to −0.47	−0.33	−0.33	−0.39
SF-36	Bodily pain	b	3.72	10.41	3.38 to 17.44	0.64	0.48	0.57	−3.37	−4.26	−10.63 to 2.11	−0.26	−0.20	−0.26
		m	3.31	8.19	1.93 to 14.44	0.50	0.37	0.45	−3.18	−6.08	−12.09 to −0.07	−0.37	−0.28	−0.37
WOMAC	Function	b	3.05	14.48	8.51 to 20.46	0.71	0.78	0.93	−3.39	−6.27	−12.91 to 0.38	−0.31	−0.34	−0.38
		m	3.10	11.25	5.17 to 17.32	0.55	0.60	0.72	−3.34	−7.29	−13.84 to −0.75	−0.36	−0.39	−0.44
SF-36	Physical functioning	b	2.44	4.23	−2.30 to 10.77	0.22	0.20	0.24	−2.71	−5.38	−12.61 to 1.85	−0.28	−0.26	−0.29
		m	2.26	3.81	−2.23 to 9.84	0.20	0.18	0.21	−2.46	−6.64	−13.21 to −0.08	−0.34	−0.32	−0.36
WOMAC	F.Standing/walking	b	4.01	10.20	1.44 to 18.95	0.45	0.42	0.45	−3.91	−10.62	−19.16 to −2.08	−0.46	−0.43	−0.48
		m	3.53	5.93	−1.76 to 13.63	0.26	0.24	0.26	−3.51	−12.87	−20.53 to −5.22	−0.56	−0.52	−0.58
WOMAC	Stiffness	b	5.55	20.24	11.97 to 28.52	0.78	0.76	0.90	−6.44	−6.21	−15.80 to 3.39	−0.24	−0.23	−0.25
		m	4.76	16.24	9.15 to 23.34	0.63	0.61	0.72	−5.21	−9.91	−17.67 to −2.15	−0.38	−0.37	−0.39
SF-36	Role physical	b	11.51	9.46	−5.92 to 24.85	0.34	0.24	0.23	−9.37	−8.14	−20.67 to 4.38	−0.29	−0.21	−0.23
		m	10.85	7.47	−7.03 to 21.96	0.27	0.19	0.18	−9.61	−12.68	−25.53 to 0.17	−0.45	−0.32	−0.36
SF-36	Vitality	b	5.62	4.16	−1.55 to 9.87	0.20	0.25	0.26	−6.16	−0.56	−6.82 to 5.70	−0.03	−0.03	−0.04
		m	5.05	4.91	−0.21 to 10.03	0.24	0.30	0.31	−5.60	−2.25	−7.94 to 3.44	−0.11	−0.14	−0.15
SF-36	Social functioning	b	4.54	6.96	−3.18 to 17.11	0.23	0.28	0.26	−4.23	−4.61	−14.07 to 4.85	−0.15	−0.18	−0.19
		m	3.68	2.57	−5.66 to 10.80	0.09	0.10	0.10	−3.74	−18.50	−26.85 to −10.15	−0.62	−0.73	−0.76
SF-36	Mental health	b	3.35	5.23	−0.89 to 11.34	0.25	0.31	0.32	−3.50	−4.07	−10.47 to 2.32	−0.20	−0.24	−0.27
		m	2.85	2.89	−2.32 to 8.10	0.14	0.17	0.18	−3.22	−8.94	−14.82 to −3.06	−0.44	−0.53	−0.59
SF-36	General health	b	2.23	6.00	−0.44 to 12.43	0.31	0.36	0.36	−2.27	−6.53	−13.07 to 0.02	−0.33	−0.40	−0.40
		m	1.95	7.15	1.51 to 12.78	0.36	0.43	0.42	−1.94	−5.80	−11.41 to −0.19	−0.30	−0.35	−0.35

All MCIDs are indicated in bold.

b, bivariate; CI, 95% CI of the MCID; ES, effect size according to Kazis; F., factor; m, multivariate; MCID, minimal clinically important difference (bold; positive values reflect improvement, negative worsening); MDC95, minimal detectable difference with 95% confidence (two-sided) based on the test–retest reliability of the scale and the based on the SE of measurement; SF-36, Short Form 36; SMD, standardised mean difference; SRM, standardised response mean according to Liang; WOMAC, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Index.