Recommendations to address respondent burden associated with patient-reported outcome assessment

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are increasingly used in healthcare research to provide evidence of the benefits and risks of interventions from the patient perspective and to inform regulatory decisions and health policy. The use of PROs in clinical practice can facilitate symptom monitoring, tailor care to individual needs, aid clinical decision-making and inform value-based healthcare initiatives. Despite their benefits, there are concerns that the potential burden on respondents may reduce their willingness to complete PROs, with potential impact on the completeness and quality of the data for decision-making. We therefore conducted an initial literature review to generate a list of candidate recommendations aimed at reducing respondent burden. This was followed by a two-stage Delphi survey by an international multi-stakeholder group. A consensus meeting was held to finalize the recommendations. The final consensus statement includes 19 recommendations to address PRO respondent burden in healthcare research and clinical practice. If implemented, these recommendations may reduce PRO respondent burden.

Olalekan Lee Aiyegbusi, Samantha Cruz Rivera, Jessica Roydhouse, Paul Kamudoni, Yvonne Alder, Nicola Anderson, Robert Mitchell Baldwin, Vishal Bhatnagar, Jennifer Black, Andrew Bottomley, Michael Brundage, David Cella, Philip Collis, Elin-Haf Davies, Alastair K. Denniston, Fabio Efficace, Adrian Gardner, Ari Gnanasakthy, Robert M. Golub, Sarah E. Hughes, Flic Jeyes, Scottie Kern, Bellinda L. King-Kallimanis, Antony Martin, Christel McMullan, Rebecca Mercieca-Bebber, Joao Monteiro, John Devin Peipert, Juan Carlos Quijano-Campos, Chantal Quinten, Khadija Rerhou Rantell, Antoine Regnault, Maxime Sasseville, Liv Marit Valen Schougaard, Roya Sherafat-Kazemzadeh, Claire Snyder, Angela M. Stover, Rav Verdi, Roger Wilson, Melanie J. Calvert