Feasibility and acceptability of the patient-reported outcomes measurement information system measures in children and adolescents in active cancer treatment and survivorship.

Background: Patient-reported outcomes related to symptoms, function, and quality of life during and following cancer treatment can guide care for pediatric cancer patients. To advance the science of patient-reported outcomes, the National Institutes of Health funded the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS).

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess feasibility and acceptability of the PROMIS pediatric measures, as defined by enrollment and attrition rates as well as missingness by measure, item, participant, and assessment time point.

Methods: Eight- to 18-year-olds participated in 2 studies: PROMIS I, a cross-sectional study of children in active cancer treatment or survivorship, and PROMIS II, a longitudinal study with 3 assessment time points for children receiving curative treatment.

Results: PROMIS I (n = 200) and PROMIS II (n = 94) had enrollment rates of 92.5% and 89.7%, respectively. For PROMIS I, measure missingness was acceptable (8% missed any measures) and was not related to other study variables. For PROMIS II, measure missingness was minimal (0.8%), and item-level missingness was relatively low. In general, items that were skipped asked about experiences that participants had not encountered in the past 7 days.

Conclusions: In both studies, the PROMIS instruments demonstrated good feasibility and acceptability among pediatric cancer patients. Overall, we had high enrollment, low attrition, and acceptable rates of measure and item missingness.

Implications For Practice: Our results demonstrate that PROMIS measures are acceptable to 8- to 18-year-olds in different points of cancer care and feasible for use in pediatric cancer inpatient and outpatient settings.