Are PROMIS and Legacy Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Correlated for Patients Undergoing Carpal Tunnel Release?

Abstract

Purpose

Long-established patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), such as the Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ) and the QuickDASH, have been used traditionally to measure baseline symptoms and treatment effects before and after carpal tunnel release (CTR), but more recently, the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) has been used increasingly in the CTR patient population. We aimed to measure the correlation between legacy and PROMIS PROMs for baseline pain and function in a cohort of patients undergoing CTR for idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

Methods

Baseline PROMs were collected prospectively in 86 patients with electrodiagnostically confirmed CTS treated with CTR at a single tertiary referral center. The legacy PROMs used were the BCTQ and the QuickDASH. The PROMIS instruments used were computer adaptive test versions of the PROMIS Pain Interference (PI), Upper Extremity (UE), and Physical Function (PF). Given normal distributions, correlation between PROMs was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Results

The mean age of the cohort was 59.7 years, and 56% were women. When assessing pain, the BCTQ – Symptom Severity Scale (SSS) was correlated moderately with PROMIS – PI (ρ = 0.59). When assessing function, the BCTQ – Functional Status Scale (FSS) was strongly inversely correlated with PROMIS – UE (ρ = −0.71) and moderately inversely correlated with PROMIS – PF (ρ = −0.58). The QuickDASH was strongly inversely correlated with PROMIS – UE (ρ = −0.75) and moderately inversely correlated with PROMIS – PF (ρ = −0.62). Finally, when comparing the two legacy PROMs for function, the BCTQ – FSS was strongly correlated with QuickDASH (ρ = 0.88).

Conclusions

We demonstrated at least moderate correlation between legacy and PROMIS outcome measures of baseline pain and function in CTS patients.

Clinical Relevance

Our findings support the use of either legacy or PROMIS outcome measures for this patient population.