Figure 1

This figure shows how clinicians can use thresholds that either refer to an absolute score, (e.g. clinicians can consider all patients above a certain score as having achieved the outcome), or a change in score, (e.g. clinicians should consider patients' HRQL as having improved or deteriorated if they achieve a certain change in score on an instrument of interest). It shows the proportion of patients who are able, according to scores on the SF-36, to walk a distance of one block (approximately 100 meters) without difficulty. Increasing the score from 50 to 60 indicates that 29% more people state that they can walk without limitations. A score of 50 indicates that approximately 50% of patients are able to walk one block. An individual patient who has a score of 50 would have a 50% chance of being able to walk one block. If an intervention improved the score to 60, there would now be a 79% chance, or a 29% increase, of this patient's ability to walk one block.