Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Plastic Surgery

The authors of a recent article provide an overview of “patient-reported outcome measures,” meaning specifically the questionnaires used by clinicians or researchers to elicit patient self-assessment of results. Measuring quality of life and patient satisfaction, these instruments represent a trend away from provider- or investigator-centric outcome assessment. The authors detail the complex process of developing patient-reported outcome measures, including the development of questionnaire items through literature review, patient interviews, and expert opinion; field testing; and the use of psychometric and statistical methods for refinement. They also describe the limitations of both generic and disease-specific measures; define the qualit…