Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
Working Group Young Rheumatology, German Society for Rheumatology, Berlin, Germany.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Jul 20;8(7):e18117. doi: 10.2196/18117.
The use of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) allows for patient-centered, measurable, and transparent care. Electronic PROs (ePROs) have many benefits and hold great potential to improve current usage of PROs, yet limited evidence exists regarding their acceptance, usage, and barriers among rheumatologists.
This study aims to evaluate the current level of acceptance, usage, and barriers among German rheumatologists regarding the use of ePROs. The importance of different ePRO features for rheumatologists was investigated. Additionally, the most frequently used PROs for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were identified.
Data were collected via an online survey consisting of 18 questions. The survey was completed by members of the Working Group Young Rheumatology of the German Society for Rheumatology (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Junge Rheumatologie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie [DGRh]) at the 2019 annual DGRh conference. Only members currently working in clinical adult rheumatology were eligible to complete the survey.
A total of 119 rheumatologists completed the survey, of which 107 (89.9%) reported collecting PROs in routine practice and 28 (25.5%) already used ePROs. Additionally, 44% (43/97) were planning to switch to ePROs in the near future. The most commonly cited reason for not switching was the unawareness of suitable software solutions. Respondents were asked to rate the features of ePROs on a scale of 0 to 100 (0=unimportant, 100=important). The most important features were automatic score calculation and display (mean 77.50) and simple data transfer to medical reports (mean 76.90). When asked about PROs in RA, the respondents listed pain, morning stiffness, and patient global assessment as the most frequently used PROs.
The potential of ePROs is widely seen and there is great interest in them. Despite this, only a minority of physicians use ePROs, and the main reason for not implementing them was cited as the unawareness of suitable software solutions. Developers, patients, and rheumatologists should work closely together to help realize the full potential of ePROs and ensure a seamless integration into clinical practice.
使用患者报告的结果（PROs）可以实现以患者为中心、可衡量和透明的护理。电子患者报告结果（ePROs）具有许多优势，并且有很大的潜力可以改善当前 PROs 的使用，但关于风湿病学家对其接受程度、使用情况和障碍的证据有限。
本研究旨在评估德国风湿病学家在使用电子患者报告结果方面的当前接受程度、使用情况和障碍。研究还调查了不同电子患者报告结果功能对风湿病学家的重要性。此外，还确定了类风湿关节炎（RA）患者最常使用的 PROs。
通过一项在线调查收集数据，该调查由德国风湿病学会青年风湿病工作组（Arbeitsgemeinschaft Junge Rheumatologie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie [DGRh]）的成员在 2019 年 DGRh 年会上完成。只有目前在临床成人风湿病学领域工作的成员才有资格完成调查。
共有 119 名风湿病学家完成了调查，其中 107 名（89.9%）报告在常规实践中收集 PROs，28 名（25.5%）已经使用电子患者报告结果。此外，44%（43/97）计划在不久的将来切换到电子患者报告结果。不切换的最常见原因是不知道合适的软件解决方案。受访者被要求对电子患者报告结果的功能进行评分，范围为 0 到 100（0=不重要，100=重要）。最重要的功能是自动评分计算和显示（平均值 77.50）和简单的数据传输到医疗报告（平均值 76.90）。当被问及 RA 中的 PROs 时，受访者列出疼痛、晨僵和患者整体评估作为最常使用的 PROs。
电子患者报告结果的潜力被广泛认可，并且对此非常感兴趣。尽管如此，只有少数医生使用电子患者报告结果，不实施的主要原因是不知道合适的软件解决方案。开发人员、患者和风湿病学家应密切合作，以充分发挥电子患者报告结果的潜力，并确保其无缝融入临床实践。
