Advances in Measuring Patient-Reported Outcomes: Use of Item Response Theory and Computer Adaptive Tests

Well-designed patient-reported outcomes are capable of measuring information important to both patients and clinicians. Including these outcomes in research reports provides a consistent, comparable outcome in research studies. However, classic measures of a reasonable fixed-length survey only measure part of the spectrum of function, and more comprehensive measures of function are too burdensome to complete regularly. Modern measurement techniques, including item response theory and computer adaptive tests, can drastically reduce the number of items to administer while improving the overall precision of the measurement. The following chapter provides the basic information needed to select and use these modern measurement techniques. Considering the rapid development of measures, the reader will need to review all of the available options.

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