Comparing the responsiveness of a generic and a musculoskeletal specific functional outcome measure in orthopaedic patients with operative fixation of pelvic ring, acetabulum, or tibia fractures: a comparison between single injury and multiply injured patients

This study compares the responsiveness, or the ability to detect clinical change in a disease, between the generic Short Form-36 (SF-36) and musculoskeletal specific Short Musculoskeletal Functional Assessment (SMFA) patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in the orthopaedic trauma population. Stratified analysis was performed to compare whether responsiveness differs between patients with single or multiple orthopaedic injuries. Prospective case series. Level 1 Trauma Center. A total of 659 patients with orthopaedic trauma injuries to the pelvis, acetabulum, or tibia were included for analysis. There were 485 patients with a single isolated injury and 174 patients with multiple orthopaedic injuries. None. Responsiveness was calculated through the standard response mean (SRM), the proportion meeting a minimal clinically important difference, and floor and ceiling effects. Between baseline and 6 months the magnitude of the SRM for SF-36 was consistently greater than that of SMFA in patients with single (