URL:

http://www.outcomes-trust.org/

Description:

The Medical Outcomes Trust (MOT) describes itself as "a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care by promoting the science of outcomes measurement, and the development, evaluation and distribution of standardized, high quality instruments that measure health and the outcomes of medical care." MOT is currently affiliated with Health Assessment Labs, a non-profit Boston research organization.

Types of Information or Instruments:

These include scale dimensions, subscales, number of items, target population, scoring information, ease of administration, readability of items, and the contents of the instrument packet. Only instruments that meet MOT's Scientific Advisory Committee approval are listed.

Quantity of Instruments:

Ten generic health measures such as the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) and the SF-36 Health Survey and 9 condition-specific measures such as the MOS-HIV Health Survey are available.

Quality of Instrument Descriptions:

They currently provide information for purchasing the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ). Scales are available in foreign languages.

Quality of Psychometric Information:

There is no psychometric information provided on the site for the available instruments. The descriptions are primarily product descriptions and information for which populations it can be used.

Scale accessibility:

All scales are available for purchase. Prices range from $125-$160 and order forms can be printed and faxed.

Site provides actual scale items:

The site does not have actual scale items, though they are available for purchase.

User-friendly navigation:

The site recently underwent remodeling and is now easier to navigate. There are only five sections with navigation links at the top of each page.

Other types of Information:

Under the "Publications" section one can find The Monitor, a journal on health outcomes research and The Bulletin, which lists technical information about instruments approved by MOT's Scientific Advisory Committee. These publications are available online.

Hints:

The Monitor includes topics such as veterans health and instrument development. The Bulletin provides such technical information as instrument development and scoring information.

Category:

Nondisease-specific Outcomes