By Maxime Sasseville
Heterogeneity in outcome measures used in multimorbidity intervention research currently leads to a lack of consistent evidence to support clinical implementation. Understanding the current state of patient-reported outcome assessment is an important endeavor for multimorbidity research and policy-making, as its use contributes to a patient-centered approach.
This scoping review [1] aimed to describe patient-reported outcomes in the context of chronic disease management interventions for people with multimorbidity. Specifically, the objectives of the review were 1) to portray the current use of patient-reported outcomes in multimorbidity interventions; and 2) to propose a descriptive classification system according to the different types of outcomes identified.
Twenty-two studies were identified from which 56 outcomes measures were reported. The measures were grouped into 18 categories and six emergent domains of outcomes: General health, Psychosocial, Disease management, Health-related behaviours, Functional and Health services. Quality of life, health-related behaviors and self-efficacy were the most reported outcome categories, while patient satisfaction, communication with providers and adverse outcomes were rarely reported.
The organization proposed in this paper could contribute to improving outcome selection for research, clinical care and policy and lead to the creation of adapted patient-related outcome measures. Consistent design of outcome assessment between multimorbidity intervention study could lead to a more coherent body of evidence for clinical implementation.
The article can be freely accessed until December 15 2017 by following this link:
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[1] Sasseville, M., Chouinard, M. C., & Fortin, M. (2017). Patient-reported outcomes in multimorbidity intervention research: A scoping review. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 77 145-153