Patients' experiences and perspectives of patient-reported outcome measures in clinical care: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis.

Background: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) or patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are used by clinicians in everyday clinical practice to assess patients' perceptions of their own health and the healthcare they receive. By providing insight into how illness and interventions impact on patients' lives, they can help to bridge the gap between clinicians' expectations and what matters most to the patient. Given increasing focus on patient-centred care, the objective of this meta-synthesis was to summarise the qualitative evidence regarding patients' perspectives and experiences of the use of PROMs in clinical care.