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Development of a Valid and Reliable Knee Articular Cartilage Condition-Specific Study Methodological Quality Score
Joshua D Harris1, Brandon J Erickson2, Gregory L Cvetanovich2
1Houston Methodist Center for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. ; Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine
|November 5, 2015
Summary
Researchers developed the Methodological quality of ARticular cartilage studies of the Knee (MARK) score to assess knee cartilage surgery research. This valid and reliable tool aids in evaluating study quality for better clinical decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Orthopaedic Surgery
- Clinical Research Methodology
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Evaluating surgical intervention outcomes relies on condition-specific questionnaires.
- A gap exists for a knee articular cartilage-specific tool to assess study quality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a reliable and valid questionnaire for assessing the methodological quality of knee articular cartilage studies.
Main Methods:
- A stepwise framework was used, extracting items from 194 studies and existing quality questionnaires.
- The preliminary instrument underwent item reduction, modification, pretesting, and weighting.
- The final instrument, the MARK score, was evaluated for face, criterion, and inter/intraobserver reliability.
Main Results:
- A 19-item, 3-domain MARK score (100-point scale) was developed.
- The score demonstrated face validity with orthopaedic surgeons and strong criterion validity against established measures.
- Excellent interobserver (ICC 0.842) and intraobserver (ICC ≥0.90) reliability were confirmed.
Conclusions:
- The MARK score is a validated and reliable instrument for assessing the methodological quality of knee articular cartilage studies.
- This condition-specific questionnaire can enhance the evaluation of research on knee cartilage surgery outcomes.
