Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures often measure changes between item responses equally, regardless of whether they represent improvement or worsening. The purpose of this pilot study is to assess preferences for achieving improvement vs preventing worsening in a sample of healthcare professionals.
METHODS: A pilot survey was developed using the physical functioning section of Short Form 36 (SF-36), which measures change equally. Participants were presented with hypothetical scenarios of each item: participating in moderate activities, participating in vigorous activities, lifting/carrying groceries, climbing several flights of stairs, climbing one flight of stairs, bending/kneeling/stooping, walking more than a mile, walking several blocks, walking one block, and bathing/dressing yourself. They were limited a little (mid-point) in the hypothetical scenario and asked if they valued achieving improvement (becoming not limited at all), preventing worsening (becoming limited a lot), or valued both changes equally. The survey leveraged a convenience sample of individuals working at a healthcare company.
RESULTS: A total of 25 individuals participated in the survey with mean age of 36 years, 56% female, 56% White or Caucasian, and 32% Asian or Asian American; 72% rated their overall health as excellent or very good. In 9 of 10 hypothetical scenarios, most participants valued achieving improvement over preventing worsening. For example, participants valued improvement over preventing worsening for walking several blocks (68% vs 16%), participating in moderate activities (68% vs 20%), and walking one block (68% vs 24%). In one scenario—participating in vigorous activities—individuals valued preventing worsening over improvement (44% vs 36%). In all scenarios, valuing the preferences equally was the least common response.
CONCLUSIONS: Participants generally preferred achieving improvement over preventing worsening in these hypothetical scenarios. This highlights the need for future research on PRO measures that can effectively distinguish between treatment benefits related to improvement vs preventing worsening.