Measurement of generic patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in an acute admission unit: A feasibility study.
OBJECTIVE
Measuring patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) is a challenge in Acute Admission Units (AAUs), where patients present with a variety of pathologies. Generic PROMs may be used to measure the quality of care in this population. The main objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of measuring generic PROMs in a Dutch AAU.


METHODS
Longitudinal cohort study Setting: An AAU of a tertiary hospital in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Participants: 123 patients admitted to the AAU during 5 weeks in May and June 2015 METHODS: Patients admitted to the AAU were asked to fill out a questionnaire relating to three time points: 7 days before, during, and within 2 weeks after admission. Additionally, patients were asked to report on their experienced level of safety on the AAU and the contribution of the AAU to their recovery.


RESULTS
There were significant trends in generic PROMs for all three domains. Physical functioning decreased during hospital admission and almost fully returned to the previous level after discharge. Satisfaction with social role and anxiety significantly decreased over time.


CONCLUSIONS
Measuring generic PROMs in the AAU is feasible. The analysis of the PROMs took little effort and results could be reported back to the healthcare workers on the AAU quickly. Patients appreciated being asked about their own perceived health and the quality of care. Given that this is the first study focusing on PROMs in AAU patients in the Netherlands, future studies with larger sample sizes, and from other nations are needed to further investigate PROMs in this patient group to establish International reference values.
VU University Medical Center, Section acute medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
L S van
LS
Galen
NIVEL Netherlands Institute for health services research, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
W van
Wv
der Schors
NIVEL Netherlands Institute for health services research, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
N L
NL
Damen
VU University Medical Center, Section acute medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Mhh
M
Kramer
Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
C
C
Wagner
VU University Medical Center, Section acute medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Pwb
P
Nanayakkara
D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D010346:Patient Care Management / Q000592:standards*; D057240:Patient Preference; D000071066:Patient Reported Outcome Measures; D058996:Quality Improvement; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data