Impact of using patient-reported outcome measures in routine clinical care of paediatric patients with chronic conditions: a systematic review protocol

INTRODUCTION: Chronic diseases among children are associated with lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and higher utilisation of healthcare services. Integrating Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs) in routine clinical care has been shown to reduce utilisation of healthcare services while improving patient outcomes. The objectives of our study are to: (1) identify previously implemented and evaluated PROMs for chronic conditions in paediatric settings; (2) consolidate the evidence to evaluate the impact of using PROMs on HRQOL, healthcare utilisation, patient outcomes (eg, symptoms control) and quality of care among paediatric patients with chronic conditions. The findings from this review will inform the future integration of PROMs in paediatric clinical practice. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will systematically search the following electronic databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO and Cochrane library. Reference lists of included studies will also be searched in Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) database to ensure more complete coverage. Two reviewers will independently screen the studies and abstract the data using standardised form. Extracted data will be analysed and synthesised. Finally, a narrative synthesis of summarised data will be presented. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required, as the proposed systematic review will use data from published research articles. The results of this study will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences and meetings, and the lead author’s doctoral dissertation. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018109035.