Rachael L. Pattinson, Nirohshah Trialonis-Suthakharan, Sunnia Gupta, Alasdair L. Henry, Jacqueline F. Lavallée, Marina Otten, Timothy Pickles, Nick Courtier, Jennifer Austin, Christine Janus, Matthias Augustin, Chris Bundy
DOI: 10.2340/00015555-3884

By relying on data from existing patient-reported outcome measures of quality of life, the true impact of skin conditions on patients’ lives may be underestimated. This study systematically reviewed all dermatology-specific (used across skin conditions) patient-reported outcome measures and makes evidence-based recommendations for their use. The study protocol is registered on PROSPERO (CRD42018108829). PubMed, PsycInfo and CINAHL were searched from inception to 25 June 2018. The Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) criteria were used to assess the measurement properties and methodological quality of studies. A total of 12,925 abstracts were identified. Zero patient-reported outcome measures were assigned to category A (ready for use without further validation), 31 to category B (recommended for use, but only with further validation) and 5 to category C (not recommended for use). There is no gold-standard dermatology-specific patient-reported outcome measure that can be recommended or used without caution. A new measure that can comprehensively capture the impact of dermatological conditions on the patient’s life is needed.

This is the first study to systematically evaluate all published dermatology-specific (for use across skin conditions), patient-reported outcome measures against the gold-standard Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) criteria and make evidence-based recommendations for their use. The study found that no dermatology-specific patient-reported outcome measure can be unequivocally recommended for use. These results question the validity of the data collected using these patient-reported outcome measures, which has implications for clinical decision-making and research.

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