Table 5.
Clinical outcome assessment examples
| Clinical outcome assessment (COA) | Example |
|---|---|
| Clinician-reported outcome(ClinRO)– ClinROs are those COAs requiring clinical expertise | “Readings” are clearly defined results that are observed and reported in a dichotomous manner on the basis of clinicians' judgment like the presence or absence of clinician-identified radiographic vertebral fractures [109] “Ratings” are categorical (either ordered or not) or continuous measures like those in Part III of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale or the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale in mental disorders [109] “Clinician Global Assessments” (CGAs) are assessments based on a clinician's overall judgment like the“clinician global impression” (CGI) or“clinician global impression of change” [109] |
| Observer-reported outcome(ObsRO)– ObsROs are assessments of how patients feel or function in their daily lives made by a non-expert third party (spouse, caregiver, parent, sibling, etc.) ObsROs are useful when the patient themselves may struggle to reliably assess their own symptoms and experiences (i.e. children or cognitively impaired patients) | A parent's report of a child's vomiting episodes A caregiver reporting a patient wincing through pain during activities when they cannot report this themselves |
| Patient-reported outcome(PRO)– PROs are assessments about how patients feel or function in their daily lives where the information is reported by the patient themselves, without interpretation or modification by someone else | Gastrointestinal Quality of Life instrument (GQLI) European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) is a questionnaire that assesses the quality of life of patients with cancer The Impact of Weight on Quality of Life (IWQOL-Lite) assesses obesity-specific quality of life measures |
| Performance outcome(PerfO)– PerfOs are assessments of a task(s) performed by a patient following instructions given by a healthcare professional; performance outcomes require patient cooperation and motivation | Timed 25 foot walk test as a measure of gait speed Severe Impairment Battery as a measure of cognitive function |