Patient-Reported Experience (PREMs) and Outcome (PROMs) Measures in Diabetic Foot Disease Management-A Scoping Review

Background/Objectives: Diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) is a chronic complication of diabetes mellitus that negatively impacts patients' quality of life (QoL). Patients' perceptions of health status and healthcare can be assessed using Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) and Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs). This article aims to review the available literature on PREMs and PROMs, evaluate their characteristics, and determine whether an existing measure is applicable to or can be developed for the patient population of a third-level unit for diabetic foot. Methods: A search through Cinahl, Scopus, and Pubmed electronic databases was conducted to identify studies published between 2000 and 2024. Eligible studies included those using PREMs and PROMs in patients with DFS. Studies that used self-assessment methods or open questions and those that applied PROMs in people living with diabetes without diabetic foot were excluded. Results: After a careful selection, 53 studies met the inclusion criteria: none of these applied PREMs. Regarding PROMs, 46 studies applied a generic method alone or in combination with a specific tool to large populations comparing patient groups, while 7 studies applied a specific PROM alone to small populations evaluating specific aspects of pathology. Conclusions: In the existing literature, generic tools are mainly reported. No gold standard has yet been identified among all the tools considered for assessment of quality of life or patients' perceptions of their health. Further studies are needed to develop a reliable and specific PREM or PROM questionnaire for complex patients affected by DFS.