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Prospects and challenges in using patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice

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Abstract

Background

Patient-reported measures include preferences and reports about care received, health behaviors, and outcomes of care (patient satisfaction and health-related quality of life). These measures are a core aspect of health care, but there is much to be learned about how to use them to improve clinical practice.

Method

We specify linkages among different patient-reported measures and focus upon the prospects and challenges for use of patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice.

Results

Patient-reported measures are important throughout the continuum of patient care. At the initial visit, patient-reported outcomes provide information about what is important to the patient, the patient’s current behaviors, and the patient’s baseline health-related quality of life. At subsequent visits, patient-reported outcomes help evaluate disease progression or regression as well as treatment effects.

Conclusions

Patient-reported measures can help clinicians target interventions that will improve patient outcomes of care. However, there are a number of challenges in using patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Theodore G. Ganiats, MD for his insightful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. Dr. Fung was supported by funding from the Society of General Internal Medicine (through a grant from the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund). Dr. Fung is an employee of Zynx Health, Incorporated. Dr. Hays was supported by the a P01 grant (AG020679-01) from the National Institute on Aging and the UCLA Center for Health Improvement in Minority Elderly/Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research, NIH/NIA/NCMHD (P30-AG-021684-07). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of Zynx Health, which develops evidence-based tools for healthcare providers, or David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

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Correspondence to Constance H. Fung.

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Fung, C.H., Hays, R.D. Prospects and challenges in using patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice. Qual Life Res 17, 1297–1302 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-008-9379-5

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