Performance of PROMIS Global-10 compared with legacy instruments in patients with shoulder arthritis

The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global-10 measures physical and mental health and provides an estimated EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) score. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between the PROMIS Global-10 and several gold-standard legacy measures to validate its overall performance and usefulness in patients with shoulder arthritis.

The study prospectively enrolled 161 patients with shoulder arthritis before treatment. Each patient completed the PROMIS, EQ-5D, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) Assessment Form, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE), and Western Ontario Osteoarthritis of the Shoulder (WOOS) Index. Spearman correlations were calculated, and Bland-Altman agreement tests were conducted between estimated EQ-5D scores from the PROMIS and actual EQ-5D scores. Ceiling and floor effects were determined.

Correlation between the PROMIS and EQ-5D was excellent (0.72, P < .001). However, agreement for estimated EQ-5D ranged from 0.37 below to 0.36 above actual EQ-5D scores. Correlation of the PROMIS physical score was good with the ASES score (0.57, P < .001) and poor with the SANE score (0.23, P = .0045) and WOOS score (0.11, P = .3743). Correlation of the PROMIS mental score was poor when compared with all patient-reported outcome instruments investigated (ASES score, 0.26 [P = .0012]; SANE score, 0.13 [P = .1004]; and WOOS score, 0.09 [P = .4311]). No floor or ceiling effects were observed.

PROMIS Global-10 physical scores show excellent correlation with the EQ-5D. However, the PROMIS Global-10 cannot replace actual EQ-5D scores for cost-effectiveness assessment in this population because of the large variance in agreement between actual and PROMIS Global-10-estimated EQ-5D scores. PROMIS Global-10 physical scores showed good correlation with the ASES score but poor correlation with other gold-standard patient-reported outcome instruments, suggesting that it is an inappropriate instrument for outcome measurement in populations with shoulder arthritis.