Patient Satisfaction with Collection of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Routine Care

The aim of this study was to assess the validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire depression module (PHQ-9). It has been subject to studies in medical settings, but its validity as a screening for depression in the general population is unknown. A representative population sample (2,066 subjects, 14-93 years) filled in the PHQ-9 for diagnosis [major depressive disorder, other depressive disorder, depression screen-positive (DS+) and depression screen-negative (DS-)] and other measures for distress (GHQ-12), depression (Brief-BDI) and subjective health perception (EuroQOL; SF-36). A prevalence rate of 9.2% of a current PHQ depressive disorder (major depression 3.8%, subthreshold other depressive disorder 5.4%) was identified. The two depression groups had higher Brief-BDI and GHQ-12 scores, and reported lower health status (EuroQOL) and health-related quality of life (SF-36) than did the DS- group (P's < .001). Strong associations between PHQ-9 depression severity and convergent variables were found (with BDI r = .73, with GHQ-12 r = .59). The results support the construct validity of the PHQ depression scale, which seems to be a useful tool to recognize not only major depression but also subthreshold depressive disorder in the general population.

The use of electronic patient-reported outcomes (PRO) systems is increasing in cancer clinical care settings. This review comprehensively identifies existing PRO systems and explores how systems differ in the administration of PRO assessments, the integration of information into the clinic workflow and electronic health record (EHR) systems, and the reporting of PRO information.