Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patient reported outcomes are used to assess the impact of medical interventions on perceived health in both clinical trials and daily care. Further, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) optimize the consultation. However, patient completion of PROMs before their consultation, and healthcare provider's (HCP) use of PROMs in their consultation are suboptimal. In this cross-sectional study, we examined whether viewing a PROM dashboard before or during consultation consecutively resulted in higher patient completion of PROMs. METHODS: As part of regular care, patients were asked to fill out PROMs prior their consultation. HCPs' dashboard views were logged. A chi-square test was performed on dashboard viewed (yes/no) with consecutively filling out PROMs (yes/no). The odds ratio (OR) of consecutively filling out PROMs after a dashboard view was calculated. RESULTS: 38.016 consecutive appointments were linked to a previous appointment in which a dashboard could be viewed. In 2740 cases, a dashboard was viewed by the HCP, against 35.276 cases in which a dashboard was not viewed. Follow-up adherence in completing PROMs was 49%. The chi-square test showed statistical significance of p < .001. The OR of filling out a consecutive PROM when a dashboard was viewed was 3.16 (p < .001, 95% CI [2.9-3.5]). DISCUSSION: Patients are more likely to complete PROMs for their follow-up appointment when an HCP has viewed PROMs during or before consultation. HCPs should be aware of their responsibility in addressing PROMs, because using PROMs in consultation does not only have a positive effect on communication, but also on patient completion of PROMs.