Ellen BM Elsman1,2, Ami Baba1 , and Martin Offringa1,2 on behalf of the PRISMA-COSMIN steering committee
1 Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2 Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Outcome measurement instruments (OMIs) play a critical role in assessing health outcomes both in clinical practice and in research. Different types of OMIs exist, such as questionnaires or patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), clinical rating scales or performance-based tests. While there are many OMIs that measure the same outcome domain, selecting the most suitable OMI requires a comprehensive evaluation of the measurement properties, feasibility and interpretability aspects. Such evaluations can be achieved through the conduct of systematic reviews.
Despite the availability of various methods for conducting systematic reviews of OMIs, there is a continuing lack of comprehensive reporting of methods and finding in these reviews’ publications. This incomplete reporting limits reproducibility and hinders the selection of the most appropriate OMI for specific applications. Recognizing this gap, our study aimed to develop a reporting guideline specifically tailored for systematic reviews of OMIs, called PRISMA-COSMIN for OMIs 2024.
We adapted the PRISMA 2020 framework by adding new items, modifying existing ones, and ensuring the relevance of all items to systematic reviews of OMIs. This process involved a Delphi study, workgroup meetings, and pilot testing. We engaged important stakeholders, including patients and members of the public throughout the development process. As patient and public involvement in the development of reporting guidelines is relatively new, we shared our lessons learned turned into 17 recommendations for future reporting guideline developers in a commentary recently published in Research Involvement and Engagement, that can be found here.
The resulting PRISMA-COSMIN for OMIs 2024 guideline comprises of a checklist for full systematic review reports and one for abstracts, along with Explanation and Elaboration (E&E) documents. The checklist for full reports contains 54 (sub)items covering various sections of a systematic review report, from the article’s title to the discussion. PRISMA-COSMIN for OMIs 2024 can be used to guide the reporting of all systematic reviews of OMIs, where at least one measurement property of at least one OMI is evaluated, irrespective of the methodology used to conduct the review.
Looking ahead, we anticipate that PRISMA-COSMIN for OMIs 2024 will contribute to enhanced quality and transparency of reporting of systematic reviews of OMIs. To facilitate its uptake, we plan to disseminate the guideline through various channels, including the websites of the EQUATOR network, PRISMA, COSMIN, and www.prisma-cosmin.ca. We also launched a social media campaign and an automated email system for authors registering their reviews in PROSPERO. A short video explaining the resources available to guide the reporting of OMI systematic reviews, 1-page tip sheets outlining how best to report each checklist item, and patient-targeted materials can also be found on www.prisma-cosmin.ca.
To encourage wide dissemination, the manuscript detailing the development of PRISMA-COSMIN for OMIs was co-published open access in Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes, and Quality of Life Research.
This newsletter editorial represents the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ISOQOL.
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