Journal of lower genital tract disease
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J Low Genit Tract Dis · Oct 2015
EditorialLower Anogenital Tract Disease Therapy Outcomes, COMET, and CROWN: Call for Research Submissions.
There is a problem of inconsistent and inappropriate outcome selection for research studies. We can improve the relevance of research results for women and for their physicians and clinicians by encouraging researchers to critically evaluate outcome measures, and use valid, appropriate, standardized measures. To this purpose, and to facilitate synthesis of the evidence, outcomes reported by clinical studies should be standardized for different disease conditions through the development of core outcome sets (COS). ⋯ Investigators are encouraged to conduct secondary systematic research to determine previously reported primary outcome measures and suggest domains for COS. Core Outcomes in Women's health initiative and COMET encourage the formation of consensus panels of stakeholders (researchers, health care providers, patients, and others) to recommend outcome domains and COS and then publish their report.