ArticleSpecial Issue: The Science of Symptom Management: Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science, 2013 ConferenceAn experience with the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System: Pros and cons and unanswered questions
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Background
This article provides information shared at the October 2013 Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science Conference Innovative Approaches to Symptom Science: Measurement and Analysis. The authors of this article are investigators who incorporated either one or more Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) tools into their National Institutes of Health–funded research projects. Abstracts of these studies are presented in Table 1, Table 2.
PROMIS Advantages
The use of the PROMIS measures by biobehavioral nursing scientists who are focused on understanding the biological underpinnings of symptom reports provides several advantages. A key advantage is the ability to compare symptoms reported by one's sample to a national data base (one of the intended purposes of the PROMIS development). Project 1, “The Pathways to Abdominal Pain,” provides an example of this advantage (Table 1).
PROMIS Challenges
In Project 2, the nurse scientist was involved in testing the effectiveness of two culturally sensitive, expedient psychosocial interventions to improve QOL for Latinas with breast cancer and their supportive partners. Although Spanish language versions of PROMIS measures are available and widely used, there are challenges for nurse scientists to consider. This challenge is highlighted in Project 2.
Summary
As nursing scientists, the authors concur that it is important to support moving the PROMIS initiative forward. The notion of having a common currency regarding symptoms and symptom impact on QOL is laudable, but more work still needs to be done. For most investigators, the use of PROMIS measures will be done in concert with the continued use of more familiar legacy tools and the incorporation of selected relevant short forms or composite tools. Among nursing scientists, there are aspirations
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