Patient-Reported Outcome

Definition

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are responses to questions or statements about their perceptions or activities, such as symptoms, capabilities, or performance of roles or responsibilities (Revicki, Hays, Cella, & Sloan, 2008). These responses are typically measured by self-completed questionnaires and combined in some way to create summary scores that can be used to measure concepts such as physical, psychological, or social functioning and well-being, or symptom burden or severity. Symptoms can be rated based on frequency, severity, duration, degree of bother, or impact on patient activities. PROs are increasingly accompanying the traditional clinical ways of measuring health and the effects of treatment on the patient, both nationally and internationally, in order to make a more comprehensive evaluation. According to this context, The Patient-Reported Outcome Information System (PROMIS®) initiative, funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH), began in 2004 with six...