Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs)

I went to an excellent lecture on PROs by Professor Melanie Calvert from the University of Birmingham as part of the Doll Seminar series today. She talked about the incorporation of PROs in randomised controlled trials but the quality of the reporting which was quite dismal. Many analyses that she and her group have done were presented and all in all it was a first class coverage of PROs and the challenges they present in getting it right. There is now an extension to the CONSORT statement, known as the CONSORT PRO extension which gives excellent guidance on how one might use PROs as primary or secondary outcomes as well as discussing the methodology for developing appropriate PRO guidelines and questionnaires. She suggests that improved reporting of PRO data should make for a robust interpretation of the results of clinical trials as defined by the trialist and that are more relevant to patient care.