Patient-Reported Outcome Measures for Use in Women With Pelvic Organ Prolapse: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Pelvic Health
• Medical Measurement
• Women's Health

Background:

• Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are crucial for assessing women's experiences with prolapse.
• Evaluating the quality and scope of existing PROMs is essential for clinical practice and research.
• The COSMIN framework provides standardized criteria for assessing health measurement instruments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the psychometric properties of PROMs for women with prolapse using the COSMIN framework.
• To document scoring, administration methods, and available non-English translations of these PROMs.
• To provide a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of prolapse-related PROMs.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed and EMBASE up to September 2021.
• Included studies reported validation of PROMs in women with prolapse and psychometric testing data.
• Methodologic quality was evaluated using COSMIN guidelines; translation studies were excluded from the formal review.

Main Results:

• 32 PROMs were identified across 54 studies; 106 translation studies were excluded.
• Reliability was the most frequently reported measurement property, with most properties rated as sufficient.
• Condition-specific PROMs demonstrated more studies and broader measurement property data compared to adapted or generic PROMs.

Conclusions:

• While data on measurement properties for prolapse PROMs vary, the overall quality is generally good.
• Condition-specific PROMs appear to be more extensively studied and report on a wider range of measurement properties.
• These findings support the informed selection and development of PROMs for women with pelvic organ prolapse.