Outcomes Measurement and Survey Core Facility

The OMSC provides expertise on the best ways to measure outcomes derived by self-report, serves as a central resource for state-of-the-science instruments and measurement methods and provides in-house research support services for translation, collection and analysis of outcomes and survey data.

Research Design Consultation Services

• Assistance with development of new protocols
• Questionnaire/Survey selection and development
• Recruitment strategies and assessment plans
• Analysis methods

Programming & Analysis Services

• Computer-based questionnaire administration tools
• Scoring algorithms
• Psychometric and statistical analysis and interpretation

Research Operations Services

• Training for study interviewers
• Multilingual study interviewers
• Multilingual translations of questionnaires and surveys
• Qualitative methods (focus groups, cognitive interviewing)

Several organizations provide information on outcome measurement for use in research and clinical care.

ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group
https://ecog-acrin.org/

ECOG-ACRIN is a membership-based scientific organization that designs and conducts cancer research. The Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Working Group created a reference library with materials available to ECOG-ACRIN members including:

• Recommendations for PROs to use in ECOG-ACRIN studies (e.g., PROMIS, FACIT, PRO-CTCAE)
• Sample study protocols
• Guidance for manuscripts including PROs
• Validation studies for recommended PROs

Patient-Reported Outcomes Tools Engaging Users and Stakeholders (PROTEUS) Consortium https://theproteusconsortium.org/

The PROTEUS Consortium is an international group of PRO researchers and representatives from patient, clinician, research, health system, and regulatory work. They provide tools for using PROs in clinical trials addressing:

• Selecting measures
• Developing protocols
• Analyzing and reporting data
• Displaying results
• Writing grants

HealthMeasures
https://www.healthmeasures.net

HealthMeasures is the dissemination center for Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures. The website includes:

• Downloadable, respondent-ready PROMIS measures via Search & View Measures
• Measure recommendations for cancer and other health conditions
• Instructions for calculating and interpreting scores
• Considerations for research protocols

ePROs for Clinical Care
http://epros.becertain.org/

Through a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a multi-institutional group created evidence-based guidance and resources for electronic PROs (ePROs) used in care delivery within a health system addressing:

• Integration of ePROs in a clinical setting (workflow, technology, engagement)
• Reporting (data & information, system function & interaction, presentation, using reports)
• Governance of system-wide ePRO implementation (alignment, infrastructure, continuous learning)

All manuscripts and grants presenting work supported by this core should include the following acknowledgement:

"This work was supported by the Northwestern University Outcomes Measurement and Survey Core and a Cancer Center Support Grant (NCI CA060553)."