Imagine you walk into a hospital. You see doctors and nurses as they do their rounds. But they may miss something the patient knows. Or they may not understand the patient's point of view. There is a big gap between what patients think and how doctors see things. This happens because the health system is full of numbers and measurements. But patient feedback is more ...
Clinicians and patients often rely on X-rays for diagnosing knee osteoarthritis (OA) despite guidelines against routine X-ray use. A study explored the impact on patient beliefs about managing OA when given a diagnostic X-ray and explanation compared to a clinical diagnosis without X-rays. The study also checked if patients seeing their X-ray images influenced thei...
Heart failure can greatly affect a person's daily life, leading to frequent hospital visits and worsening symptoms. To understand and address these issues, hospitals started using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs). In 2022, a large academic hospital in Toronto, Canada, included PROMs in their electronic health record system (Epic). This move aimed to capture ...
After hip and knee replacements, doctors want to know how much better patients feel. This study looked at a big group of people to find out how much improvement in quality of life is important for patients. They used a special tool called EQ-5D-3L to measure this. The results are helpful because they show what changes in health are meaningful for patients, even consi...
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a lifelong journey that involves mastering complex care, self-management, and regular doctor visits to keep blood sugar in check and stay healthy. This journey isn't easy, as patients have to navigate a lot of medical and disease-specific information. How people with T2DM seek care can impact their health and even lead to hospital s...
Esophagectomy, a major surgery to remove the esophagus, can really shake up a patient's life. Studies show that while it's good for survival, it's tough on daily living. Patients often face big, lasting changes in how they live. Doctors mostly look at survival rates and major side effects when choosing the best treatment. But, they should also care about the patient'...
For years, the Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand (BRANZ) has been keen to gather patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). A previous trial where hospitals took the lead saw few participants and many people dropping out, suggesting a new approach might be better. One major concern was that hospital staff were already busy, so adding another task might not...
A cancer diagnosis can really shake up a teen or young adult's life, affecting how they see themselves and their body. This study aims to create a new and reliable way to measure how these patients feel about their bodies. The research team talked to 25 teens and young adults with cancer, making sure to include different education levels, genders, treatment stages, a...