Respiratory Failure Outcomes Are Effectively Evaluated With New Tool

The Core Outcome Measurement Set is effective for evaluating outcomes in survivors of acute respiratory failure (ARF) following hospital discharge, according to a recent study.

For their study, the researchers assessed 77 participants with ARF using a 3-round modified Delphi consensus process. Participants included researchers across more than 16 countries and 6 continents, as well as patients, caregivers, clinicians, and research funders.
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During the study, each participant reviewed standardized information about measure instruments for 7 consensus-derived outcomes, as well as 1 recommended outcome.

Approximately 91% to 97% of participants responded across all 3 rounds, and 75 measurement instruments were assessed. Results indicated that the European Quality of Life-5D (EQ-5D) for “satisfaction with life and personal enjoyment” and “pain” outcomes, the 36-item Short Form Health Survey version 2 (optional) for “satisfaction with life and personal enjoyment” and “pain” outcomes, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for “mental health” outcomes, and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised for “mental health” outcomes all met a priori consensus criteria.

However, according to the researchers, no measurement instruments reached consensus for the outcomes of cognition, muscle and/or nerve function, physical function, and pulmonary function.

Additionally, the researchers noted that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment for “cognition” outcomes, manual muscle testing and handgrip dynamometry for “muscle and/or nerve function” outcomes, and the 6-minute-walk test for “physical function” outcomes did not reach consensus but achieved the highest scores for these respective outcomes.

“This Core Outcome Measurement Set is recommended for use in all clinical research evaluating ARF survivors after hospital discharge,” the researchers concluded. “In the future, researchers should evaluate measures for outcomes not reaching consensus.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Needham DM, Sepulveda KA, Dinglas VD, et al. Core outcome measures for clinical research in acute respiratory failure survivors. An international modified Dephi consensus study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;196(9). https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201702-0372OC.