Clinimetrics is the scientific discipline that aims to:
The choice of an appropriate measurement instrument is a key issue in all scientific research.
This is an online course!
The course is scheduled on six half days, spread over two weeks.
The lectures will be pre-recorded. The working groups and practicals will be offered live via Zoom. Find more information about the online course under the header ‘Online course in 2024 or 2025’.
If a course is Full , you can still register and we will place you on a waiting list. We will contact you as soon as a place becomes available. You can then decide whether you still want to participate.
Clinimetrics is the scientific discipline that aims to (1) develop methods of assessing the properties of health measurement instruments, (2) apply those methods to develop new, or evaluate existing, health measurement instruments, with the aim (3) to improve the quality of measurements. The choice of an appropriate measurement instrument is a key issue in all scientific research. Measurement instruments are required to assess outcomes (e.g. to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions), to diagnose, and to prognosticate. Approaches to gathering data vary widely, from physical examinations to laboratory tests, from imaging techniques to self-report questionnaires. Clinical and health researchers always need to find the best instruments for their particular research and, if none are available, develop new ones.
The course is on evaluation of the quality of measurement instruments and on the design and evaluation of the quality of clinimetric studies. The emphasis is on knowing “what to measure”, by a detailed definition of the construct of interest, based on conceptual models. We continue by discussing measurement theories such as classical test theory and item response theory. For multi item instruments, dimensionality (factor analysis) internal consistency are important issues. Specific sessions will focus on reliability (particularly the distinction between reliability and measurement error), validity (with the emphasis on content validity and hypotheses testing) and responsiveness. We will also pay attention to the interpretability of an instrument’s scores.
There will be lectures with working groups in between, to discuss the content of the lectures and to practice with assessment and interpretation of the various measurement properties. For one assignment, i.e. on the calculation and interpretation of measurement error and reliability, a computer with SPSS is required.
This extra course is mainly intended for students from abroad. There is no exam after the course.
The course is offered online on six half days, spread over two weeks.
The online course roughly looks like this:
Note that the indicated times for the working groups are the local Amsterdam times. Amsterdam is located in the Central European Time zone (MET, GMT +1).
If you register for the course, please indicate in which group you want to participate. If a group is full, you can no longer choose it and we will remove it from the website. It is not possible to change groups afterwards. The groups have a maximum capacity of 10/11 people.During the working groups, there will be opportunity to ask questions about the lectures. All course materials are published on Canvas. You will receive a login for Canvas no later than November 4, 2024.
Groups 1 and 2 are the best choice for students from Asia; Groups 3 and 4 are the best choice for students from North and South America.
If you register for the course, please indicate in which group you want to participate. If a group is full, you can no longer choose it and we will remove it from the website. It is not possible to change groups afterwards. The groups have a maximum capacity of 10/11 people.During the working groups, there will be opportunity to ask questions about the lectures. All course materials are published on Canvas.
The course is designed for healthcare practitioners and researchers who are active in medical, allied health, psychological, or behavioural research and who deal with the development, evaluation, and interpretation of health measurements.
Attendants are expected to have at least basic knowledge of epidemiological and statistical methods.
The course materials (lectures, assignments, feedback of assignments, etc) are available on Canvas, our digital learning environment. The documents will remain available on Canvas for at least one year.
During the computer practicals, you will need:
SPSS; If you do not have SPSS installed yet, you can purchase it on Surfspot. Another option is to use IBM’s 30-day free trial: SPSS Software | IBM.
Henrica C. W. de Vet, Caroline B. Terwee, Lidwine B. Mokkink, Dirk L. Knol, Measurement in Medicine. 2011. Cambridge University Press. ISBN:9780521133852
Epidemiology Master’s students are required to do the exam in order to complete this course. For other students (not enrolled in Epidemiology Master), the exam is optional and costs €160,- per registration.
You can register for the exam on the Exams page. Registration will close 3 weeks prior to the exam.
Please note that you need to pass the exam in order to receive credits (EC).
A certificate of participation will be granted to all students who have attended at least 80% of the classes. The number of contact hours will be stated on the certificate.
Only for Dutch medical specialists!
On the final day of the course, you need to sign the attendance list if you wish to obtain accreditation credits (PE-points).
To qualify for these credits, there is an attendance requirement of 100%.
Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam UMC
Professor of Outcome Measurement in Healthcare, Amsterdam UMC
Alzheimer centrum, Amsterdam UMC/ Faculty behaviour and movement Science, VU Amsterdam
