Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures for Assessing Symptoms in Hemodialysis: A...

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) may have an important role in screening and monitoring for unpleasant symptoms in kidney failure. However, there is still little evidence on the psychometric properties of the measures available to assess physical and psychological symptoms in people on hemodialysis. This gap makes it difficult to decide which measure is the most appropriate for use in clinical practice and research with this population.

This systematic review aimed to critically appraise, compare, and summarize the quality of the measurement properties of PROMs used to assess symptoms in adults on hemodialysis.

The protocol for this review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023393441). The last database search update was performed on November 25, 2022. The COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) guidelines informed methodological quality assessment, data extraction, analysis, and synthesis.

Twenty-seven primary studies reported the measurement properties of 16 PROMs used to assess physical and psychological symptoms in adults on hemodialysis. Results showed that most measures lacked the necessary psychometric evidence to attest their suitability for this study population, and few underwent rigorous validation procedures. Overall, caveats were found on methodological quality and evidence of content validity and structural validity, and little data was available on responsiveness, measurement error, and cross-cultural validity.

The current systematic review provides the basis for identifying PROMs with potential utility for assessing symptoms in hemodialysis care. Several recommendations are presented to help guide future research aimed at improving the rigor of validation and/or translation procedures of existing (and future) measures using COSMIN guidelines.