Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Aug 22, 2024
Date Accepted: Feb 6, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Measuring Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) in addiction treatment services: study protocol and baseline characteristics of the OMER-BE study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Traditionally, treatment outcomes in patients with a substance use disorder (SUD) are measured using objective and provider-reported indicators. Recently, there has been a shift towards incorporating Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) to capture service users' perspectives on treatment outcomes and experiences.
Objective:
The OMER-BE study (Outcome Measurement and Evaluation as a Routine practice in alcohol and other drug services in Belgium) aims to assess the acceptability and feasibility of PROMs and PREMs in different SUD treatment services, using the recently developed ICHOM Standard Set for Addictions. In this paper, we describe the design and baseline characteristics of the study.
Methods:
A convenience sample of 189 treatment seeking individuals with SUD from different inpatient services (therapeutic communities, psychiatric centers) and outpatient treatment services is followed for 6-months. Clinical factors, sociodemographic characteristics and PROMs are assessed at baseline, within 3 weeks after starting treatment. Additionally, PROMs and PREMs are measured 45, 90 and 180 days later.
Results:
Baseline differences are observed between the three treatment modalities regarding education, SUD treatment history, primary substance and ADHD self-report scores. Overall, patients in PC are higher educated and have less polysubstance use, while outpatients have fewer previous SUD treatments but receive relatively more often opioid agonist treatment. Inpatients report more ADHD symptoms and higher SUD severity than outpatients. Additionally, recovery strength scores are found to be significantly lower in the outpatient group compared to the other groups, particularly in the subdomains of ‘Substance Use,’ ‘Self-care,’ and ‘Outlook on Life’.
Conclusions:
Measuring PROMs and PREMs appears to be feasible in a diverse group of treatment seeking patients with SUD in Belgium. Routine monitoring of these measures can empower patients, service providers and policymakers by providing a comprehensive understanding of service users’ needs and treatment effectiveness.
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