Quality of Life 3 and 12 Months After Acute Pulmonary Embolism: Analysis From a Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study (New Hope for Outcomes Envy)

Comparison of important factors to patients recovering from pulmonary embolism and items covered in patient-reported outcome measures: A mixed-methods systematic review

OBJECTIVE

Up to 50 % of patients recovering from pulmonary embolism (PE) experience negative long-term outcomes. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are important in identifying what matters to patients. We aimed to identify PROMs used in clinical studies and recommended by the International Consortium of Health Outcomes (ICHOM) and compare individual items with factors considered important by patients recovering from PE.

METHODS

This was a convergent mixed-methods systematic review, including quantitative studies, using PROMs and qualitative studies with non-cancer-related PE patients. Items from each PROM and qualitative findings were categorised using an International Classification of Function linking process to allow for integrated synthesis.

RESULTS

A total of 68 studies using 34 different PROMs with 657 items and 13 qualitative studies with 408 findings were included. A total of 104 individual ICF codes were used, and subsequently sorted into 20 distinct categories representing patient concerns. Identified PROMs were found to adequately cover 17/20 categories, including anxiety, fear of bleeding, stress, depression, dizziness/nausea, sleep disturbance, pain, dyspnea, fatigue, activity levels, family and friends, socializing, outlook on life, and medical treatment. PROMs from the ICHOM core set covered the same categories, except for dizziness/nausea.

CONCLUSIONS

No single PROM covered all aspects assessed as important by the PE population. PROMs recommended in the ICHOM core set cover 16/20 aspects. However, worrisome thoughts, hypervigilance around symptoms, and uncertainty of illness were experienced by patients with PE but were not covered by PROMS.

Assessing quality of life after pulmonary embolism: Comparing results from the PEmb-QoL with semistructured interviews

Background

The Pulmonary Embolism Quality of Life questionnaire (PEmb‐QoL) assesses quality of life (QoL) in patients with previous pulmonary embolism (PE).

Objective

Our aim was to assess the agreement between the PEmb‐QoL and interviews and to explore other QoL concerns in patients diagnosed with PE.

Methods

This mixed‐method study included interviews with 21 patients about QoL after PE, followed by the PEmb‐QoL questionnaire. In interviews, patients were asked about their lived experiences and impact of PE. Our analysis identified the frequency and severity of decreased QoL in qualitative interviews and compared with the PEmb‐QoL score. Excerpts that described the effect of PE on QoL in interview transcripts were transcoded to match the answers corresponding to the 1 to 6 numeric values for each question from the PEmb‐QoL using a predetermined matrix (eg, “constant” and “daily” = all of the time = value 1) and directly compared with responses on the PEmb‐QoL in the areas of emotional complaints and activities of daily living/social limitations.

Results

Interviews showed more functional impairment than predicted by PEmb‐QoL. For fear of recurrence, 86% of participants had disagreements between PEmb‐QoL scores and transcoded interview scores. We found 42% disagreement between reported descriptions of the inability to do or enjoy hobbies in interviews and the PEmb‐QoL score.

Conclusion

Patient interviews showed discordances compared with a validated psychometric tool. To capture a more detailed and accurate picture of the effect of PE on QoL, providers and researchers should consider the addition of qualitative methods to assess outcomes.