Interpreting Results from Clinical Trials: Understanding Minimal Clinically Important Differences in COPD Outcomes

This issue of the COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease presents the papers from the “Workshop on Minimal Clinically Important Differences in COPD” held in Bal Harbour, Florida, on January 11–13, 2004. The goals of this meeting were to: discuss the significance of and methodology for determining minimal clinically important differences (MCID) in health outcomes of importance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); review the current knowledge about MCID in outcomes of importance, including dyspnea, quality of life, exercise performance, and pulmonary function, in the management of patients with COPD; apply methodologies to determine MCID using existing data for outcomes of importance in COPD; and develop recommendations for further studies to determine MCID in health outcomes of importance in COPD.