OBJECTIVES: Brazil is a continental country with health technology assessment agencies to evaluate new technologies, but with budget constraints. Tools with the potential to assist the decision-making process on certain treatments are fundamental to improving global patient care. Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) were developed for research purposes, helping to understand treatment effectiveness and working as indicators of the disease and treatment impacts, providing outcomes not evaluated in clinical trials. This study aims to investigate the use of PROMs in patients receiving oncological treatments globally and how the instrument utilization has been evaluated.

METHODS: An overview on published systematic reviews was conducted through a systematized search in PubMed and Lilacs databases, in the last 6 years. Studies were considered eligible if included PROMs utilization on cancer patients, evaluating outcomes and the real improvements in the quality of patient care.

RESULTS: The search retrieved 218 titles. Based on prespecified eligibility criteria, three systematic reviews were selected. Positive effects of PROMs inclusion in the routine of clinical practice were registered on communication with patients, disease monitoring and decision making. PROM was also associated with improved symptom control. One systematic review evaluated if PROMs inclusion is associated with improvements in patient outcomes, but intervention effect sizes were mainly small in magnitude. Another review showed an electronic health (eHealth) system applied to patients receiving treatment or follow-up care. The users of the system considered it highly acceptable, and feasible to be implemented into an oncology setting.

CONCLUSIONS: PROMs provide potential to monitor disease progression, facilitate professionals-patients communication and help to improve health services quality. Due to universal access to health, PROMs utilization is highly recommended in Brazil to assist the decision-making process on new technologies incorporation in oncology, beyond the potential to improve the quality of care.