Web-based Validation Pelvic Floor Questionnaires

Overview

Patient-reported outcomes are commonly used in healthcare. Examples include validated symptom-based questionnaires and health diaries. In the field of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery there are many questionnaires and diaries that have been validated for a paper-based administration. As technology is incorporated into delivery of medical care and research, investigators need to consider how to collect data electronically while ensuring that this new format is equivalent to the paper questionnaires they rely on. In this study, the investigators aim to validate a series of validated questionnaires and symptom diaries administered via the web and smartphone for a more streamlined care for the patients.

Health questionnaires and health diaries are two forms of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) commonly used in healthcare. Health questionnaires are often used as intake logs, discerning and recording the symptoms and severity of a problem at the time of presentation. Health diaries, in contrast, are ongoing logs which allow for mindful attention to symptoms and monitoring of response to therapy. Unfortunately, both types of PRO forms are often under-utilized or uninterpretable because they are collected on paper. Within urogynecology, PRO scales such as the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI), Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ), Bristol Stool Chart, Bladder Diaries and others are used ubiquitously. Their impact, however, is diminished by poor compliance and recall bias. The move towards electronic PRO measures would be endorsed by patients (who can track and interact with their data), physicians (who can track progress and study group outcomes) and by regulators (who want to ensure accurate and reproducible data collection). Electronic PRO tools, particularly on the patient's own device, would allow for increased rate of reporting through mobile availability, time stamping of data to prevent recall bias and reduction in data entry mistakes and costs. Study Procedures After informed consent is obtained, demographic data will be collected. Subjects will be administered the questionnaires either in paper or web-based or smartphone form based on a random number block scheme. At least two weeks later but prior to treatment they will complete the other form of the questionnaire. This can occur at their next office visit or can be completed at home. Subjects will be emailed and/or called by research staff to remind them to complete the second set of questionnaires.