Measures of outcomes that are important to patients
Many PROMs have been developed in consultation with patients. When selecting PROMs for use, it is helpful to ensure that the measures reflect outcomes that are important to patients. Choosing PROMs with questions that resonate with the experiences and priorities of patients may encourage them to engage fully with the process of completing them and improve response rates.
Appropriate for patient population
PROMs need to be appropriate for patient populations in terms of simplicity, accessibility, and length.1 The instructions should be easily understood, the rating scales need to be intuitive, and the questions should be jargon-free. PROMs need to be accessible to everyone, including patients who communicate in languages other than English, patients with cognitive challenges, those with vision impairment, and others who may experience difficulties completing PROMs in the conventional ways. If PROMs are too long, there is a risk that they will not be completed. Clinical experience suggests that the time required to complete PROMs should not be more than 12 to 15 minutes.
Avoid duplication
Using generic and specific PROMs together is a powerful strategy, but introduces the possibility that some of the questions may be very similar. For example, some of the questions in a condition-specific health-related quality of life PROM may be duplicated in a generic health-related quality of life PROM. Patients can become irritated if they feel they are answering the same question several times.