Author: Wilson, J.T.

Source: Current Pharmaceutical Design, Volume 7, Number 15, 1 October 2001 , pp. 1537-1552(16)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Abstract:

It is often suggested that one reason that neuroprotection trials in head injury have not shown benefit is the insensitivity of the outcome measures employed. The review considers strengths and weaknesses of the main approaches to assessing outcome in head injury trials. Determination of a response to neuroprotection requires a measure that is both sensitive to differences in outcome and is also influenced by brain injury. Sets of tests have been proposed for use in clinical trials that include scales of disability and handicap and measures of neuropsychological impairment. The Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) covers the whole spectrum of outcome after head injury and is the most popular primary endpoint for head injury trials. Although the GOS is a simple scale, small changes in the distribution of outcome can be detected with appropriate sample sizes. Late outcome in survivors can be influenced by various personal and environmental factors in addition to initial brain pathology. Other rating scales and questionnaires do not appear to offer significant advantages over the GOS, but can be used to supplement the information collected. Neuropsychological tests have properties that make them attractive as outcome measures, although there are practical difficulties with using tests. Neuropsychological assessment is potentially a powerful way of testing specific hypotheses concerning the effects of treatment. All current outcome measures have limitations choice of the most appropriate endpoint will depend both on the properties of the measures available, and on the anticipated effects of treatment.

Keywords: Head injury; Glasgow outcome scale GOS

Document Type: Review article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1381612013397276

Publication date: 2001-10-01

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• Current Pharmaceutical Design publishes timely in-depth reviews covering all aspects of current research in rational drug design. Each issue is devoted to a single major therapeutic area. A Guest Editor who is an acknowledged authority in a therapeutic field has solicits for each issue comprehensive and timely reviews from leading researchers in the pharmaceutical industry and academia.
  
  Each thematic issue of Current Pharmaceutical Design covers all subject areas of major importance to modern drug design, including: medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, drug targets and disease mechanism.

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