Patient-Reported Outcome Measures of the Shoulder and Elbow

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are questionnaires filled directly by the patient and devoid of the researcher’s influence and bias. As healthcare is increasingly more focused on the patient’s own perception of value rather than the clinician’s, these are becoming the norm for measuring and reporting baseline and posttreatment health status. Systematic and standardized outcome measurements are the basis for evidence-based practice defining guidelines. However, as there is no single universally accepted instrument, many research papers on the same subject are not easily comparable and, therefore, difficult to aggregate and use for secondary literature. In this chapter, we will discuss the psychometric properties of PROMs, practical aspects on administering, interpreting, and reporting them, present and compare the main outcome measurement tools for shoulder and elbow, and peek at how the PROM of the future might look like.