Systematic reviews of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs): table templates for effective communication

Systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments (OMIs) are an important tool to guide the selection of OMIs for research and clinical practice. However, presenting the large amount of complex data pertaining both to the quality of each study (i.e., risk of bias) as well as the quality of the instrument (i.e., measurement properties), along with the underpinning certainty of evidence, is challenging. Here, we aim to provide guidance on optimizing data presentation in OMI systematic reviews, specifically focusing on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

A multidisciplinary team of experts in OMI systematic reviews, research reporting, and data visualization built on existing table templates from OMERACT and the COSMIN initiative, to align with reporting items in a recently developed reporting guideline for systematic reviews of OMIs: PRISMA-COSMIN for OMIs 2024. To enhance clarity and usability, we applied data visualization principles by reducing non-essential elements and improving interpretability through structured layouts and concise explanatory text.

We present eight templates for reporting PROM systematic review results: three pertain to PROM characteristics, two to studies' characteristics, two to the evaluation of measurement properties, and one to the summary of findings. We also provide recommendations on whether to include these templates in the review's main manuscript or in the supplementary materials. Word versions of these templates can be downloaded from www.prisma-cosmin.ca and www.cosmin.nl .

Templates complementing the PRISMA-COSMIN for OMIs 2024 reporting guidance can be used to standardize and enhance the clarity and usefulness of OMI systematic reviews focusing on PROMs. They comprise a comprehensive set of tools to effectively report OMI systematic reviews, in service of end-users who are selecting OMIs.