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- Talk
- 21/09/2021
- UK
Computerised Adaptive Testing Dramatically Reduces the Length of Patient-Reported Hip and Knee Outcome Scores. An analysis of the UK National PROMs programme
Description
The presented discourse focuses on the utilization and implications of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in orthopedics, specifically examining their integration into national registry programs and the application of psychometric principles to enhance assessments of patient health. Jonathan Evans discusses the significance of PROMs, which are designed to evaluate health statuses based on patient perspectives, and underscores their essential role in randomized controlled trials and clinical practices in the UK.
In explaining the underlying methodology, Jonathan differentiates between Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory (IRT), elucidating how modern psychometrics, particularly through IRT, can lead to improved assessment mechanisms, such as Computerized Adaptive Testing. This approach allows for tailored questioning based on initial responses, which significantly increases efficiency in measuring latent traits like pain, function, and life quality.
Through extensive analysis of the data collected from the national PROMs program, which encompasses tens of thousands of patient evaluations, the talk reveals that both the Oxford Hip and Knee scores align with IRT assumptions and thus show promise for computerized testing implementation. This can drastically reduce the number of questions necessary to accurately assess patients, with findings suggesting that approximately 82% of traditional PROM lengths could potentially be eliminated, leading to substantial time savings in data collection at the national level.
The conversation highlights the need for infrastructure adaptations to facilitate this transition to electronic data collection methods, emphasizing the benefits for both patients and healthcare systems. Overall, the analysis demonstrates how improving PROM administration could enhance patient compliance and the utility of collected data, thereby influencing the future of orthopedic assessment practices.