the oxford shoulder score - Isis Project No 3240

A Health Outcomes Questionnaire is available from Isis tackling the assessment of outcomes following shoulder surgery. 

The Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) is a 12-item patient-reported questionnaire specifically designed and developed for assessing outcomes of shoulder surgery e.g. tackling degenerative conditions such as arthritis and rotator cuff problems.

The OSS is a Patient Reported Outcomes Measure (PROMs) and is therefore independent of the clinical team or surgeon who delivered the intervention. The development of the OSS was driven by demands for a suitable PROM by orthopaedic surgeons who wished to measure the outcomes of their treatments from the patient’s perspective. The questionnaire was designed and developed by researchers (within the Health Services Research unit, Division of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Oxford) who also created the Oxford Hip and Knee scores, which have been used for assessment of all NHS hip and knee surgery interventions (approximately 120,000) since April 2009. Designed and developed in association with surgical colleagues at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, the OSS has been tested in a surgical context with patients and shown to be reliable, valid and responsive.

Properties of the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS):

• The only condition-specific questionnaire designed and developed for use in assessing surgery intervention of the shoulder.
• Can be used as an indicator for recovery and general improvement in quality of life following surgery.
• Shown to be valid, reliable and sensitive to change after rigorous testing.
• Brief and easy to complete resulting in good return rates.
• Can be completed anywhere and delivered by post, making follow-up of large numbers of patients much more feasible (and cheaper) than conducting clinical assessments.
• Easy to interpret scores.
• Can be employed in surveys or clinical trials for shoulder surgery patient groups.

First published in 1996, the OSS has gradually been adopted as an outcome measure and is now widely used in clinical trials.

Using the Questionnaire

The Shoulder Score developed at Oxford is available for licence from Isis Innovation. Please contact the Isis Project Manager or email healthoutcomes@isis.ox.ac.uk.

 

Request Further Information: Project Number 3240 - The Oxford Shoulder Score