In this video, Katherine talks us through some of the different methods that can be used to develop a PROM. When you have finished watching the video, read the text below to find out more about each method.
Literature review
- Developers should always review the literature first to see whether a PROM already exists in the area they are interested in and if not, whether similar PROMs exist that they could learn from or take items from for consideration. Even if there are no PROMs in their area of interest, they could still obtain valuable data by conducting a literature review, for example, there may be a study which investigated quality of life in their population of interest but was not turned into a PROM.
Interviewing
- Obtaining data directly from the population of interest is a valuable method of generating items for inclusion. The developer may wish to talk to patients, relatives, carers, doctors, nurses or other healthcare professionals and could interview all of these, a mixture, or just one group. Once they have decided who to interview, they then need to decide how to interview. One-to-one interviews could be undertaken (for example face-to-face or over the telephone) or a focus group could be held:
One-to-one interviews can be useful in situations where the topic material might be more sensitive as patients are more likely to feel comfortable sharing experiences and views with one interviewer rather than in a larger group.
A focus group could contain a mixture of people, for example patients, carers, and nurses, or just one group, for example a group of patients. In a focus group, two researchers are generally needed to facilitate the group, with one taking responsibility for the discussions and one taking notes.
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