Choosing the right questions - a systematic review of patient reported outcome measures used in radiotherapy and proton beam therapy

Radiother Oncol. 2023 Dec 22:110071. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2023.110071. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe implementation of PROMs into clinical practice has been shown to improve quality of care. This systematic review aims to identify which PROMs are suitable for implementation within routine clinical practice in a radiotherapy or PBT service.The bibliographic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and EMCARE were searched. Articles published between 1st January 2008 to 1st June 2023, that reported PROMs being utilised as an outcome measure were included. Inclusion criteria also included being written in English, involving human patients, aged 16 and above, receiving external beam radiotherapy or PBT for six defined tumour sites. PROMs identified within the included articles were subjected to quality assessment using the COSMIN reporting guidelines. Results are reported as per PRISMA guidelines. A total of 268 studies were identified in the search, of which 52 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The use of 39 different PROMs was reported. The PROMs identified were mostly tumour or site-specific quality of life (n=23) measures but also included generic cancer (n=3), health-related quality-of-life (n=6), and symptom specific (n=7) measures.None of the PROMs identified received a high GRADE score for good content. There were 13 PROMs that received a moderate GRADE score. The remaining PROMs either had limited evidence of development and validation within the patient cohorts investigated, or l...
Source: Radiotherapy and Oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology - Category: Radiology Authors: Source Type: research