Gossec, L. (2017)
Epidemiological research has gone through a very exciting time over the past years in rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders (RMDs). The future is just as exciting. Although 'traditional' epidemiology in terms of prevalence and incidence of diseases is quite well-known now, there are many gaps to our knowledge in particular in the field of outcomes research (what to assess, when and how?) but also in the field of predictive factors (e.g. predictive factors of severity and of treatment response). Better knowledge in outcomes assessment is key to feasibility of standardised assessments and is the basis of shared decision making. Better knowledge of predictive factors will open the door to truly personalised medicine. Some future directions will be discussed in this talk.