Defining, Valuing, and Teaching Clinical Outcomes Assessment in Professional and Post-Professional Athletic Training Education Programs

Abstract

Objective: To provide a basic introduction for athletic training educators about the importance of clinical outcomes measures and to recommend strategies for implementing clinical outcomes assessment education in professional and post-professional athletic training education programs. Background: Outcomes is a frequently used term amongst healthcare professionals; in the contexts of both education and clinical practice. Clinical outcomes assessment refers to the end result of healthcare services taking into account the patient's experiences and expectations. Clinical outcomes assessment education and implementation are critical to the successful implementation of evidence-based practice in athletic training. Description: Clinical outcomes assessments are categorized as either clinician- or patient-based measures. Clinician-based measures are often referred to as objective measures and include things such as range of motion (ROM) and strength, whereas patient-based measures are obtained via questionnaires and interviews that address the patient's perspective on his/her health status. Athletic training education programs should incorporate instruction on the use of both types of measures into their curricula. Clinical Advantages: Educating athletic training students to use clinical outcomes assessment will enable students to practice patient-centered care and provide them with an understanding of how to critically evaluate the evidence to determine optimal patient care. In addition, efforts to educate athletic training students about clinical outcomes assessment may support more widespread implementation of outcomes data collection and strengthen collaborations between clinicians and researchers to determine the effectiveness of athletic training clinical practice.