CIDER
Clinically Important Difference Estimation and Rating
Challenge
Within-group: What degree of change is clinically meaningful?
Between-group: What difference in change is clinically meaningful compared with a comparator group?
Solution
CID operationalizes what counts as meaningful change within a group and meaningful benefit between groups.
Our approach
We build the CIDER (Clinically Important Difference Estimation and Rating) using a mixed-methods framework, integrating quantitative estimates with clinical interpretation and contextual factors. CID supports trial design, responder definitions, margin and threshold setting, evidence synthesis, and guideline decision-making by translating results into clinically meaningful terms.
Trial design & planning
- Define a clinically meaningful target difference (Δ)
- Support sample size & power calculations
- Select endpoints and timepoints aligned with meaningful change
- Improve feasibility by focusing on worthwhile effects
Responder definitions & interpretable reporting
- Create responder definitions based on meaningful thresholds
- Report effects in clinically interpretable terms beyond p-values
- Use tiered responders (minimal / moderate / substantial)
- Interpret CIs against CID to assess clinical importance
Decision margins & thresholds
- Justify noninferiority / equivalence margins clinically
- Define minimum worthwhile benefit for superiority claims
- Set decision thresholds for go/no-go or adoption
- Support benefit–harm and cost-effectiveness discussions
Evidence synthesis & guideline decision-making
- Translate pooled effects into clinical importance
- Provide thresholds for GRADE / guideline recommendations
- Harmonize interpretation across scales and settings
- Enable decision summaries
Real-world evidence & benchmarking
- Avoid “tiny but significant” results in large RWD by using CID
- Benchmark outcomes across sites, cohorts, and time
- Evaluate meaningful change against active comparators
- Support decision support outputs that are clinically intuitive
Methods, governance & reproducibility
- Combine evidence using a mixed-methods framework
- Track versioning & provenance for CID thresholds
- Provide reusable templates (SAP, responder, margins)
- Support sensitivity analyses across contexts and methods
Search CID evidence
Join the Collective
Contribute your research data to the global repository.
Verified Identity
Strict academic verification ensures data integrity.
Structured Upload
AI-assisted parsing for PDFs and raw datasets.
Peer Review
Community-driven validation process.
Our Base
Where innovation happens.
Clinical Research Institute
Our Team
Meet the minds behind CIDER.