The NHS is about to decide which questionnaires patients should fill out before and after treatment—and this programme will tell them which ones actually work. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are standardised questionnaires that capture how patients feel about their health, symptoms, and quality of life after medical care. Hundreds of validated PROMs exist, but there is no clear consensus on which ones the NHS should use for routine monitoring of elective procedures, public health problems, or general health status. This programme will conduct structured literature reviews to assess each PROM against standard criteria for measurement properties and practical usability. If successful, the reviews will produce evidence-based recommendations for specific PROMs that the Department of Health can adopt across the NHS. That would give clinicians, commissioners, and patients reliable data on whether treatments actually improve the outcomes that matter to patients—not just clinical metrics like survival or complication rates. The programme does not develop new questionnaires or test them in clinics; it systematically evaluates existing ones to identify the best tools for the job.
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BackgroundPatient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) have emerged as a potentially powerful means of informing patients, providers and commissioners of effects and benefits of health care interventions. A large number of validated instruments exist and a substantial supporting body of evidence. A high priority now is for evidence of PROMs to be reviewed in a structured way to reach recommendations for best PROMs to be used in various contexts. AimsA structured review is proposed of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in three areas: (i) selected elective procedures (ii) specified health problems of particular public health significance and (iii) comparative performance of generic health status measures. The aim of the reviews is to make as clear recommendations as possible regarding PROMs that can be brought into use in the NHS to monitor health service quality and performance. Plan of InvestigationA series of literature reviews are planned using the NCHOD database and supplementary structured searches to identify reports of PROMs that may be used in a number of identified contexts. Reviews of the retrieved evidence will then be assessed against standard criteria of measurement properties and also with regard to practical considerations, in order to provide evidence-based recommendations of best specific PROMs for various contexts and applications identified by the Department of Health. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) have the potential to provide unique evidence of impact of services on outcomes experienced by patients. This information will contribute to improving performance and the quality of services.Potential ImpactPatient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) have the potential to provide unique evidence of impact of services on outcomes experienced by patients. This information will contribute to improving performance and the quality of services.
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