Galen Research – the Science of Measurement
Galen researchers are the leading experts in the development and evaluation of questionnaires and assessments for use by health care services and industries world wide.
We design and test questionnaires to collect people’s views on how they feel their medical condition and its treatment affect them. These questionnaires help establish what is of benefit to people with long term illness.
We
- employ cutting edge, scientifically rigorous techniques
- conduct qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis
- have many years experience working across a wide range of disease areas
- have an excellent publication record.
Galen Research News July 2007
A New Professor:
Dr Stephen McKenna, co-founder of Galen Research, has been appointed Professor of Psychology at the University of Central Lancaster. The University were impressed by his wide range of experience and his publication record.
A senior figure in ‘patient reported outcomes’ which measure the impact of disease on patients’ lives, Dr McKenna wishes to fulfil his role as educator as well as researcher.
Measuring Change
Since 1989 Galen has developed questionnaires for over thirty chronic health conditions, ranging from Asthma to Multiple Sclerosis. These have been adapted into over sixty languages and are used by the pharmaceutical industry, medical charities, the NHS and Health Services worldwide.
Health Rationing
Almost every day we hear about a new drug or treatment – followed by news that it’s too expensive to prescribe. ‘Health rationing’ and value of drugs are key issues. Galen questionnaires demonstrate the value of treatment to patients. They are clear and easy to use and have proven validity, satisfying decision-makers at national, European and worldwide levels.
In three disease areas, Galen questionnaires have been selected to support reimbursement claims for new products: Pulmonary Hypertension, Growth Hormone Deficiency and Ankylosing Spondylitis.
Europe & America agree!
The Food and Drugs Agency (FDA), the regulatory body for the United States, has granted a ‘labelling claim’ to a new product, based on Galen’s Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life questionnaire (the ASQoL).
The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) and European medical bodies also cite the ASQoL as a valid measure of quality of life in Ankylosing Spondylitis. Such recognition is rare and accords with Galen’s aim “to increase the competence of measurement”.
World Exclusive in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension:
Another Galen questionnaire, The CAMPHOR (Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review) has been recommended as “a required outcome measure in all future clinical trials worldwide”. News came from a recent meeting of worldwide clinical experts attended by the FDA & EMEA held in Scotland.
NICE one!
A third Galen questionnaire, the QoL-AGHDA (which measures Quality of Life in Adults with Growth Hormone Deficiency) has also been chosen to measure change in that condition. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE; the body that decides which drugs are available on the NHS) require new drugs’ effectiveness to be ‘tested’ by the QoL-AGHDA.
Poster award
The Cross cultural Comparability of the CES-D poster, written by Senior Researcher David Meads, won Best Poster presentation at the 2006 Conference of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics Outcomes Research at Copenhagen.
With this measure of success Galen Research, resident at Enterprise House since 1996, has expanded and will become incorporated as a limited company in August.
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