Neurorehabilitation and neural repair
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Neurorehabil Neural Repair · May 2007
Establishing the minimal clinically important difference of the Barthel Index in stroke patients.
The interpretation of the change scores of the Barthel Index (BI) in follow-up or outcome studies has been hampered by the fact that its minimal clinically important difference (MCID) has not been determined. ⋯ The authors' results, within the limitations of their design, suggest that if the mean BI change score within a stroke group has reached 1.85 points in a study, the change score on the BI can be perceived by patients as important and beyond measurement error (ie, such a change score is clinically important).