Absolute MCID was strongly associated with baseline pain , explaining approximately two-thirds of the variation , and to a lesser degree with the operational definition of minimum pain relief and clinical condition .
MCID  for chronic pain relief vary considerably .
Baseline pain is strongly associated with absolute , but not relative , measures .
To a much lesser degree , MCID is also influenced by the operational definition of relevant pain relief and possibly by clinical condition .
BACKGROUND The minimum clinical ly important difference ( MCID ) is used to interpret the relevance of treatment effects , e.g. , when developing clinical guidelines , evaluating trial results or planning sample sizes .
There is currently no agreement on an appropriate MCID in chronic pain and little is known about which context ual factors cause variation .
METHODS This is a systematic review .
Minimal Clinically Important Change of the Neck Disability Index and the Numerical Rating Scale for Patients With Neck Pain
Study Design . Prospect i ve , single-cohort study . Objective . To assess the minimal clinical ly important change ( MCIC ) on the Neck Disability Index ( NDI ) and the Numerical Rating Scale ( NRS ) for pain in patients with neck pain . Summary of Background Data . Both measurement instruments are frequently used in research and clinical practice , but which changes are clinical ly relevant is still unknown . Methods . The  MCIC  was estimated with 2 different methods , both integrating an anchor-based and distribution-based approach : the minimal detectable change ( MDC ) and the optimal cutoff point of the ROC curve . The study population consisted of 183 patients with nonspecific neck pain . Results . The results show an MDC of 10.5 points for the NDI ( scale range , 0–50 ) and 4.3 points for the NRS ( scale range , 0–10 ) , and optimal cutoff points of the ROC curve of 3.5 for the NDI and 2.5 for the NRS . Conclusion . The estimated MCIC should be used as an indication for relevant changes in clinical practice . Using the optimal cutoff point of the ROC curve , false positives and false negatives are equally weighted ; and if there are no objections doing so , the optimal cutoff point of the ROC curve may be a good choice
Absolute MCID was strongly associated with baseline pain , explaining approximately two-thirds of the variation , and to a lesser degree with the operational definition of minimum pain relief and clinical condition .
MCID  for chronic pain relief vary considerably .
Baseline pain is strongly associated with absolute , but not relative , measures .
To a much lesser degree , MCID is also influenced by the operational definition of relevant pain relief and possibly by clinical condition .
BACKGROUND The minimum clinical ly important difference ( MCID ) is used to interpret the relevance of treatment effects , e.g. , when developing clinical guidelines , evaluating trial results or planning sample sizes .
There is currently no agreement on an appropriate MCID in chronic pain and little is known about which context ual factors cause variation .
METHODS This is a systematic review .