Long Preston A, Huberts Anouk S, di Torrero Anouk Neureiter, Otto Lisa R, Rogge Alizé A, Ritschl Valentin, Stamm Tanja A
Institute for Outcomes Research, Center for Medical Data Science, Medical University of Vienna, Spitalgasse 23, 1090, Wien, Austria.
Department of Quality and Patient Care, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Qual Life Res. 2025 May;34(5):1211-1220. doi: 10.1007/s11136-025-03909-y. Epub 2025 Feb 5.
The mere-measurement effect is the phenomenon in which subjects exposed to measurements have their perceptions and/or behaviors on the inquired topic affected simply through the act of responding. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are increasingly used to assess patient perspective and quality of life in clinical trials and different health care settings. This systematic literature review aims to assess what is currently known about the mere-measurement effect of PROs.
A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was conducted. We included studies that provided evidence on perceptual or behavioral changes in patients as a result of exposure to questionnaire items assessing PROs. All adult participants were included regardless of demographics. Any study design was considered eligible for inclusion. The databases MEDLINE [PubMed], CINAHL [Ebsco], Web of Science and ScienceDirect were searched.
The search resulted in 636 articles which led to a final extraction of nine. Overall, seven of the nine articles reported a significant main effect, i.e. presence of the mere-measurement effect. For the meta-analysis, thirteen different interventions were included. There was a one-directional, positive and significant overall risk ratio of 1.17 [CI95% 1.04;1.30].
This systematic review found significant potential for the mere-measurement effect to shape respondents' behaviors or perceptions for the better, opening the door to the possibility of engineering PROs to serve as a subtle intervention. Future considerations and directions for research are discussed.
单纯测量效应是指接触测量的受试者仅仅通过回答行为就会使其在被询问主题上的认知和/或行为受到影响的现象。患者报告结局（PROs）在临床试验和不同的医疗环境中越来越多地用于评估患者的观点和生活质量。本系统文献综述旨在评估目前关于PROs单纯测量效应的已知情况。
进行了系统文献综述和荟萃分析。我们纳入了提供证据表明患者因接触评估PROs的问卷项目而出现认知或行为变化的研究。所有成年参与者均被纳入，无论其人口统计学特征如何。任何研究设计都被认为符合纳入条件。检索了MEDLINE [PubMed]、CINAHL [Ebsco]、科学引文索引和ScienceDirect数据库。
检索得到636篇文章，最终提取出9篇。总体而言，9篇文章中有7篇报告了显著的主效应，即存在单纯测量效应。对于荟萃分析，纳入了13种不同的干预措施。存在单向、正向且显著的总体风险比为1.17 [95%置信区间1.04；1.30]。
本系统综述发现单纯测量效应具有显著潜力，可使受访者的行为或认知变得更好，为设计PROs作为一种微妙干预措施打开了可能性之门。讨论了未来研究的考虑因素和方向。
