Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) for Recovery in Mental Health: A Scoping Review

Recovery is a holistic approach to mental health care which focusses on the ability of people with mental disorders to achieve their goals and live full, meaningful lives despite their limitations. Recovery assessment tools are instruments that make it possible to measure the progress of people with mental disorders on their path to recovery. To explore, map and describe patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) found in the literature related to the recovery process in people with mental disorders (MDs). A scoping review was carried out of papers proposing personal recovery assessment tools. The search was performed in seven data bases: SCOPUS, CINAHL, Medline, Web of Science, Teseo, Opengrey and Dart-Europe. It included studies published between 1970 and 2023 with adult participants suffering from some form of MD. It excluded studies involving patients with intellectual disability and/or addictions. 82% of the instruments described in the 50 studies found used self-administered questionnaires. The most frequently referenced dimensions were hope, empowerment and wellbeing, with an average of 35 items per questionnaire. The most frequently assessed psychometric property was internal consistency, which was evaluated in 84% of the studies. Recovery is a complex concept which is not integrally measured in any of the existing scales. However, the tools identified in the review can help mental health professionals assess the recovery of MD patients and develop personalised treatment plans.