Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation
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A lack of clarity exists about the definition and adequate approach for evaluating responsiveness. An overview is presented of different categories of definitions and methods used for calculating responsiveness identified through a literature search. Twenty-five definitions and 31 measures were found. ⋯ All measures of what is currently called responsiveness can be looked at as measures of longitudinal validity or as measures of treatment effect. The latter ones tell us little about how well the instrument serves its purpose and are only of use in interpreting score changes. We therefore argue that the concept of responsiveness can be rejected as a separate measurement property of an evaluative instrument.