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Patient-based outcome assessment instruments in acupuncture research
Raheleh Khorsan1, Alexandra York, Ian D Coulter
1Military Medical Research and Integrative Medicine, Samueli Institute, Corona del Mar, CA 92625, USA. rkhorsan@siib.org
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (New York, N.Y.)
|January 13, 2010
Summary
Patient-based outcome assessment (PBOA) instruments are crucial for tracking symptoms in clinical research. Reviewing existing PBOA measures can reduce the burden of developing new ones.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Research
- Acupuncture Outcomes
- Patient-Reported Outcomes
Background:
- Outcome assessment aids therapeutic processes by tracking symptoms and functionality.
- It provides insights for clinicians and patients, fostering a common language for discussing patient status.
Purpose of the Study:
- Examine patient-based outcome assessment (PBOA) instruments in acupuncture research.
- Identify feasible, practical, economical, reliable, valid, and responsive measures.
- Address challenges associated with PBOA in acupuncture.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of 582 abstracts from PubMed (inception to April 2009).
- Evaluation of instruments based on feasibility, practicality, economy, reliability, validity, and responsiveness.
Main Results:
- Identified 258 manuscripts with explicit PBOA out of 370 relevant citations.
- The five most common PBOA instruments were Visual Analog Scale, Symptom Diary, Numerical Pain Rating Scales, SF-36, and depression scales (e.g., Beck Depression Inventory).
Conclusions:
- Questionnaire administration impacts outcomes.
- Developing and validating new PBOA instruments is costly and challenging.
- Literature review of existing measures can significantly reduce the burden of PBOA development.
