Tools from the Medical Outcomes Trust (MOT)

Connie C Schmitz's picture
Submitted by Connie C Schmitz on Mar 26, 2018 - 3:25pm CDT

Instrument
Authors: 
Medical Outcomes Trust
Overview: 

Measuring the impact of IPECP on patient health and well-being is a primary goal of many IPECP efforts.  The Medical Outcomes Trust (MOT) is a non-profit organization that has collected a number of highly respected instruments that may be of use for IPECP evaluation studies.  All of the instruments in the MOT library have significant evidence of validity and have been widely adapted for many years.  They are generally licensed for a fee, which may include data collection, analysis, and reporting services (depending on the licensing organization or distributor). 

The Medical Outcomes Trust (MOT) website reports that it is "dedicated to improving health and health care by promoting the science of outcomes measurement."  It was incorporated in 1992 in Massachusettes (USA) as a public service organization and began programming in June, 1994, with a grant from the Henry K. Kaiser Family Foundation.  It 2000, the Trust became affiliated with the Health Assessment Lab, which evolved from the Health Institute of the New England Medical Center.  The goal of the MOT is to promote the universal adoption of health outcomes assessment instruments and practices.  Its five objectives are to:

  • Assure the development of high-quality instruments to measure health outcomes
  • Assure the widespread availability of a comprehensive library of instruments to measure health outcomes
  • Achieve standardization of health outcomes measuring instruments
  • Advance applications technology for ease of use and interpretation, and for greater practical value in everyday medical practice
  • Integrate outcomes measurement with appropriateness, practical guidelines, and utility information (patient preferences) in systems of quality improvement

 

Link to Resources
Descriptive Elements
Who is Being Assessed or Evaluated?: 
Individuals
Organizations
Instrument Type: 
Self-report (e.g., survey, questionnaire, self-rating)
Notes for Type: 

Instruments are generally questionnaires, many of which can also be administered orally or used as part of an interview.

Source of Data: 
Patients, clients
Notes for Data Sources: 

Varies with the instrument, but includes children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly

Instrument Content: 
Patient / client satisfaction, experience of care
Patient / client health status
Notes for Content: 

All of the instruments in the MOT library have been reviewed by their Scientific Advisory Committee.  As of 2006, theri Library contained 10 generic and 9 condition-specific instruments. 

All of the generic tools (except for the PCAS) are patient-reported perceptions of their own health or well-being.

  • BASIS-32 (used for a broad variety of mental health conditions)
  • Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ)
  • Child Health and Illness Profile - Adolescent (CHIP-AE)
  • Duke Health Profile (DUKE)
  • London Handicap Scale (LHS)
  • Quality of Well-Being Scale (QWB)
  • Primary Care Assessment Survey (PCAS) - (patient experience of care survey)
  • Health Survey Short Form (SF-12)
  • Health Survey Long Form (SF-36)
  • Sickness Impact Profile (SIP)

All condition-specific tools are patient-reported perceptions of their health or well-being.

  • Adult Asthma Quality of Life (AQLQ)
  • Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life (PAQLQ)
  • MOS-HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV)
  • Migraine-Specific Quality of Life (MSQOL)
  • Migraine-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MSQv.2.1)
  • 24-Hour Migraine Quality of Life Questionnaire (24-Hr-MQOLQ)
  • St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire-UK Parent Version (SGRQ-UK)
  • Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ)
  • Urinary Incontinence-Specific Quality of Life (I-QOL-US)
Instrument Length: 

Varies with the instrument

Item Format: 
Varies with the instrument
Administration: 
Paper, online, or interview
Scoring: 
Varies with the instrument
Language: 
English; many have been translated into a variety of other languages.
Norms: 
Varies with the instrument
Access: 
Copyrighted (needs permission of author)
Notes on Access: 

Mode of access varies with the instrument, but all are copyrighted and most appear to require a license.  The MOT website provides specific information on who holds the copyright and where the instrument may be obtained.  Licensed distributors tend to provide at least sample items available for viewing on their websites.  Items may also be found in the many research articles published on these tools.

Psychometric Elements: Evidence of Validity
Content: 
See published research on individual instrument, available for distributor website or via library search
Response Process: 
See published research on individual instrument, available for distributor website or via library search
Internal Structure: 
See published research on individual instrument, available for distributor website or via library search
Relation to Other Variables: 
See published research on individual instrument, available for distributor website or via library search
Consequential: 
See published research on individual instrument, available for distributor website or via library search
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