Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Fifteen years ago, what was to become OMERACT met for the first time in The Netherlands to discuss ways in which the multitude of outcomes in assessments of the effects of treatments for rheumatoid arthritis might be standardised. In Trials, Tugwell et al have described the need for, and success of, this initiative 1 and Cooney and colleagues have set out their plans for a corresponding initiative for ulcerative colitis 2. Why do we need such initiatives? What's the problem? And are these and other initiatives the solution?
Mike Clarke (2007) studied this question.