Patient-Reported Outcomes in Oncology Care
Summary
Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) encompass measures of symptoms, functional status and well-being directly obtained from patients without external interpretation. In oncology care they capture fatigue, pain, emotional distress and treatment side-effects, offering insights beyond clinician-rated assessments. By integrating PROs into routine practice, care teams can identify unrecognised problems, adjust therapies and deliver truly patient-centred interventions. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments quantify the multidimensional impact of disease and treatment on daily activities, social participation and psychological health. Advances in electronic PRO (ePRO) platforms, computer-adaptive testing and mobile health applications have enabled real-time symptom tracking, remote monitoring and personalised feedback. Utilisation of normative data permits comparison of individual scores against population benchmarks, while symptom cluster research explores co-occurring symptom patterns to guide targeted supportive care. Implementation science has illuminated organisational barriers and facilitators, highlighting the importance of leadership engagement, staff training and integration into clinical workflows. Globally, PRO integration supports regulatory and reimbursement decisions, enhances communication, and underpins value-based care by aligning therapeutic strategies with patients’ lived experiences.
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Patient-Reported Outcomes in Oncology Care publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in patient-reported outcomes in oncology care across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs): Standardised questionnaires completed by patients to assess symptoms, side-effects, function and quality of life without clinician interpretation.
Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL): A multidomain construct encompassing physical, psychological and social dimensions of well-being as affected by disease and treatment.
Computer-Adaptive Testing (CAT): A method that tailors successive questionnaire items to individual responses, enhancing measurement precision and reducing number of questions.
Normative Data: Reference values derived from representative general-population samples, used to interpret individual PRO scores in clinical and research settings.
Symptom Cluster: A group of two or more interrelated symptoms that occur together and may share underlying mechanisms, informing targeted supportive interventions.
References
- A systematic review of the impact of routine collection of patient reported outcome measures on patients, providers and health organisations in an oncologic setting. BMC Health Services Research (2013).
- General population normative data for the EORTC QLQ-C30 health-related quality of life questionnaire based on 15,386 persons across 13 European countries, Canada and the Unites States. European Journal of Cancer (2018).
- Advancing Symptom Science Through Symptom Cluster Research: Expert Panel Proceedings and Recommendations. Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2017).
- Patient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs): A review of generic and condition‐specific measures and a discussion of trends and issues. Health Expectations (2021).
- Health care providers underestimate symptom intensities of cancer patients: A multicenter European study. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes (2010).
- The facilitators and barriers to implementing patient reported outcome measures in organisations delivering health related services: a systematic review of reviews. Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes (2018).
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