Understanding Health Equity in Patient-Reported Outcomes.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2024

Identifier

DOI: 10.1016/j.jaip.2024.04.023

Abstract

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are measures of patients' health that are conveyed directly by individual patients. These measures serve as instruments to evaluate the impact of interventions on any aspect of patients' health, from specific symptoms to broader quality of life indicators. However, their effectiveness relies on capturing relevant factors accurately. Whereas they are commonly used in clinical trials, PROs extend their influence across health care settings, informing clinicians, health care payers, regulators, and administrators to guide quality improvement and reimbursement decisions. Neglecting health equity considerations in PRO development and implementation widens health disparities, leading to biased interpretations, medical mismanagement, and poor health outcomes among marginalized groups. To foster equitable health care, efforts must focus on considering the values of underrepresented populations in PRO design, addressing barriers to completion, enhancing representation in research, providing cultural competency training for clinicians, and allocating research funding to support health equity research. By addressing these issues, advances can be made toward fostering inclusive, equitable health care for all individuals.

Journal Title

J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract

Volume

12

Issue

10

First Page

2617

Last Page

2624

MeSH Keywords

Humans; Patient Reported Outcome Measures; Health Equity; Healthcare Disparities

Keywords

Allergy/immunology; Health disparities; Health equity; Patient-reported outcomes

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