Measuring Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Traumatic Craniomaxillofacial Injuries: Development of the AO CMF...

Area of Science:

• Trauma Surgery
• Patient-Reported Outcomes
• Craniomaxillofacial Surgery

Background:

• Traumatic craniomaxillofacial (CMF) injuries significantly impact patient quality of life.
• Existing patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures lack specificity for CMF injury populations.
• There is a need for tailored PRO measures to capture patient-reported symptoms and concerns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a comprehensive PRO symptom battery for patients with traumatic CMF injuries.
• To identify and prioritize key symptoms and concerns from both clinician and patient perspectives.
• To create a reliable tool for assessing patient-reported outcomes in CMF injury research and practice.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach was utilized, involving semi-structured interviews with CMF clinicians and patients.
• Iterative coding and frequency tabulation were used to analyze qualitative data and identify critical symptoms.
• A conceptual model guided the development of the PRO symptom battery, incorporating existing and newly drafted items.

Main Results:

• The developed AO CMF Injury Symptom Battery comprises nine modules.
• Four modules are site-specific: oral, ocular, nasopharyngeal, and ear.
• Five universal modules cover pain/sensation, cognitive, cosmetic, psychosocial, and injury impact.

Conclusions:

• The AO CMF Injury Symptom Battery provides a promising tool for assessing patient-reported symptoms in CMF injury care.
• This battery enables the evaluation of outcomes directly from the patient's perspective.
• Further research is underway to validate the psychometric properties of the symptom battery.