JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The management of diabetes is complex. There is growing recognition for using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) as a standardized method of obtaining patients’ outlook on functional status and well-being. However, no systematic reviews have summarized the studies that investigate the measurement properties of diabetes PROMs.

Objective:

Conducting a systematic review of studies investigating measurement properties of diabetes PROMs by evaluating the methodological quality and overall level of evidence of diabetes PROMs, and categorizing the PROMs based on outcome measures assessed.

Methods:

This study was guided by the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Relevant articles were retrieved from Embase®, PubMed®, and PsychINFO®. The PROMs were evaluated with the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) guidelines.

Results:

363 articles evaluating the measurement properties of PROMS for diabetes in the adult population were identified, out of which 238 unique PROMs from 248 studies reported in 209 articles validated PROMs in the type 2 diabetes population. PROMs with at least “moderate” level of evidence for ≥five out of nine measurement properties include C-PDQ, DMSES, K-DMSES, DSMI-20, and C-ITAS-HK, of which C-PDQ and DMSES have “sufficient (+)” ratings for >4 measurement properties. 49 PROMS meet the COSMIN guidelines for recommendation for use.

Conclusions:

This study identified and synthesized evidence for measurement properties of 238 unique PROMs for type 2 diabetes patients, and categorized them according to outcome measures. These findings may assist clinicians and researchers in selecting appropriate high-quality PROMs for clinical practice and research.