MPH5237 - Clinical measurement - 2017

6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Postgraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Organisational Unit

Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine

Coordinator(s)

Dr Carol Hodgson

Unit guides

Offered

Alfred Hospital

  • First semester 2017 (Day)
  • First semester 2017 (Off-campus)

Synopsis

Aimed at students with clinical experience, this unit presents an overview of clinical outcome measurement in research, with a focus on quantitative measurement. The areas covered include selecting, reducing and scaling items, questionnaire design, assessing reliability and validity, responsiveness of measures to clinically important change, quality of life measures and statistical concepts in the testing and reporting of clinical measurement tools.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion students will be able to:

  1. Identify the principles and underlying theories that influence the development of measurement tools
  2. Critically review the literature describing the properties of clinical and epidemiological measurement tools
  3. Locate and choose studies that demonstrate alignment of measurement instruments to measurement properties relevant to specific areas of research and patient care
  4. Critically evaluate the application of measurement instruments for quantitative and qualitative outcomes to inform clinical practice and research directions
  5. Generate a portfolio of measurement instruments appropriate to their own research studies and future research projects
  6. Communicate on measurement instrument selections relevant to research studies in a variety of formats

Assessment

  • Presentation and participation during block days (15%)
  • Participation in online discussions (35%)
  • Written assignment (50%) (Hurdle)

Workload requirements

15 contact hours over 2 days for block days, and 3-4 hours of reading and online work each week.

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Off-campus attendance requirements

15 contact hours over 2 days.

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Prerequisites

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at: