A Systematic Review of the Outcomes Used to Assess Upper Body Lymphedema

Sierla R, Dylke ES, Kilbreath S, Cancer Invest. 2018 Oct 05, 1-16

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A Systematic Review of the Outcomes Used to Assess Upper Body Lymphedema

Sierla R, Dylke ES, Kilbreath S

Cancer Invest. 2018 Oct 05; 1-16

PURPOSE: To ascertain how change in upper body lymphedema is assessed and understand how clinically significant change is determined.

METHOD: A systematic search of the literature resulted in 55 eligible studies for analysis.

RESULTS: A range of assessment methods, measurement protocols, and outcomes were used in the literature. Of the 21 studies in which thresholds for change were set a priori, 20 different thresholds were reported.

CONCLUSION: How data was measured, analysed and reported was inconsistent across studies. Consensus on a core outcome set with standardised assessment protocols and reporting; and investigation into empirically based minimum important differences (MID) is needed.

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