The following is the summary of “Patient-reported outcome measurement in heart failure clinic trial: Rationale and methods of the PRO-HF trial” published in the January 2023 issue of Heart by Kalwani, et al.

Patient-reported health status among those with heart failure (HF) gives information beyond conventional professional assessment. Patient-reported health status should be collected as part of routine care, as recommended by HF management recommendations; however, there is limited information on the efficacy of this intervention. To test the hypothesis that routine health status assessment via the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12 (KCCQ-12) leads to improved patient-reported health status among patients treated in a tertiary health system HF clinic, the Patient-Reported Outcomes in Heart Failure Clinic (PRO-HF) trial was conducted. 

Over the course of PRO-HF, 1,248 people were randomly assigned to receive either routine KCCQ-12 assessment or normal care. Patients in the KCCQ-12 group take the questionnaire before each HF clinic appointment and discuss the results with their doctor. The KCCQ-12 and its potential interpretation and use were presented to clinicians. The key outcome measure is the KCCQ-12 score after one year. Secondary outcomes include health care utilization, including doctor’s visits, lab tests, hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and HF treatment patterns. PRO-HF will also explore how routine KCCQ-12 assessment influences patient experience and the reliability of clinician-assessed health status as a substudy. 

Clinicians also participated in semi-structured interviews designed to collect their thoughts on the trial’s regular KCCQ-12 evaluation. The purpose of the PRO-HF trial, a pragmatic, randomized trial conducted in a real-world HF clinic, is to assess the feasibility of routinely assessing patients’ self-reported health status and the effect of this intervention on patients’ health, the quality of care they receive, their patient experience, and the accuracy with which clinicians evaluate their health.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002870322002769