Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Versus Legacy Instruments: Are They Ready for Prime Time?

"Legacy" patient-reported outcome measures (PROs) have been used for decades; however, they have many limitations. The National Institutes of Health-funded PRO Measurement Information System (PROMIS) was developed to be a generic, flexible, precise, and reliable tool to measure core and additional domains of physical and emotional health and social well-being. Unlike Legacy PROs, PROMIS measures can be implemented across diseases, and use a common T-score metric-based scoring system derived using item response theory. PROMIS measure scores have potential to predict scores of Legacy PROs and could be the only set of measures needed to assess PROs.