Table 4.

Main Characteristics of the Five Major Categories of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures

PROM Category	Main Characteristics	Main Strengths	Main Limitations
Health-related quality of life (HRQL)	Is multidimensional Can be generic or condition-specific	Yields a global summary of well-being	May not be considered a sufficiently specific construct
Functional status	Reflects ability to perform specific activities	Can be used in addition to performance-based measures of function	May reflect variations in self-reported capability and actual performance of activities
Symptoms and symptom burden	Are specific to type of symptom of interest May identify symptoms not otherwise captured by medical workup	Are best assessed through self-report	May fail to capture general, global aspects of well-being considered important to patients
Health behaviors	Are specific to type of behavior Typically measure frequency of behavior	Target specific behavior categories	Validity may be affected by social desirability May produce potential patient discomfort in reporting socially undesirable behaviors
Patient experience	Concerns satisfaction with health care delivery, treatment recommendations, and medications (or other therapies) Reflects actual experiences with health care services Fosters patient activation	Is an essential component of patient-centered care Is valued by patients, families, and policy makers Relates to treatment adherence Relates to health behaviors and health outcomes	May be a complex, multidimensional construct Requires confidentiality to ensure patient comfort in disclosing negative experiences Does not provide sufficient evidence that activation enhances health care decision making

Note: Table adapted from Table 2 in Cella, D., Hahn, E. A., Jensen, S. E., Butt, Z., Nowinski, C. J., Rothrock, N., & Lohr, K. (2015). Patient-reported outcomes in performance measurement. RTI Press Book No. BK-0014-1509.  RTI Press. https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2015.bk.0014.1509. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0.23