Technical report: an ePRO patient reported outcome program for the evaluation of patients with irritable bowel syndrome

• Published in: Neurogastroenterology and motility Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 290 - 294
• Main Authors: Gerson, C. D., Gerson, M.‐J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.02.2014
• Subjects: Computers; Electronic Health Records; ePRO; Health Records, Personal; Health Status; Humans; irritable bowel syndrome; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - diagnosis; Patient Participation; psychological; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; symptom severity; Treatment Outcome; symptom severity; psychological; irritable bowel syndrome; ePRO
• ISSN: 1350-1925; 1365-2982
• DOI: 10.1111/nmo.12255

Background Patient reported outcome (PRO) is an important healthcare concept that describes patient's participation in their care by self‐evaluation, usually in the form of questionnaires. This report describes an unique computerized technique, electronic PRO (ePRO), for following the progress of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Methods Patients first completed a series of questionnaires, including questions about their illness history, symptom severity, and, in this application, psychological and relationship issues. The symptom severity and psychological questionnaires were then completed at intervals by the patients on their own computers. The ePRO was constructed to allow scores to be automatically summed and placed on a time‐line graph for review at the time of the next office visit. Key Results Of the 32 patients who completed the initial set of questionnaires, 20 maintained participation in the program for a 6‐month period. Of those 20 patients, median number of submissions was 7.0; median interval between questionnaire submissions was 3.0 weeks, whereas median interval between office visits was 5.9 weeks. On average, questionnaire completion took less than 5 min and was positively experienced by the patients. Conclusions & Inferences The ePRO program proved to be technically feasible, clinically useful, and positively experienced by the patients. It provides a focus on a collaborative conversation between physician and patient. It has significant potential as a technique for evaluating outcome in response to various therapies. This article describes a new method for tracking the clinical course of patients with IBS. A computerized program allows patients to complete questionnaires on their computers, with automatic scoring of questionnaires and placement of results on time‐line graphs. The graphs are then available for review by patient and physician in the office.