Implementation of the Kids-CAT in clinical settings: a newly developed computer-adaptive test to facilitate the assessment of patient-reported outcomes of children and adolescents in clinical practice in Germany

• Published in: Quality of life research Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 585 - 594
• Main Authors: Barthel, D., Fischer, K. I., Nolte, S., Otto, C., Meyrose, A. -K., Reisinger, S., Dabs, M., Thyen, U., Klein, M., Muehlan, H., Ankermann, T., Walter, O., Rose, M., Ravens-Sieberer, U.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer 01-03-2016; Springer International Publishing; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Algorithms; Asthma; Attitude of Health Personnel; Cats; Child; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Child health services; Child psychology; Children; Children & youth; Chronic illnesses; Clinical medicine; Clinical outcomes; Clinics; Communication; Computers; Diabetes; Disease prevention; Feasibility Studies; Female; Focus Groups; Germany; Health outcomes; Health Status Indicators; Humans; Male; Medical Informatics Applications; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Patient Outcome Assessment; Patients; Pediatrics; Physician-Patient Relations; Prospective Studies; Public Health; Quality of Life; Quality of Life Research; Questionnaires; Rheumatoid arthritis; Self Report; Sociology; SPECIAL SECTION: PROS IN NON-STANDARD SETTINGS (BY INVITATION ONLY); Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; Wellbeing; Germany; Computer-adaptive test; Pediatrics; Electronic patient-reported outcomes; Clinical practice; Quality of life; User acceptance
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-015-1219-9

Purpose To describe the implementation process of a computer-adaptive test (CAT) for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children and adolescents in two pediatrie clinics in Germany. The study focuses on the feasibility and user experience with the Kids-CAT, particularly the patients' experience with the tool and the pediatricians' experience with the Kids-CAT Report. Methods The Kids-CAT was completed by 312 children and adolescents with asthma, diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis. The test was applied during four clinical visits over a 1-year period. A feedback report with the test results was made available to the pediatricians. To assess both feasibility and acceptability, a multimethod research design was used. To assess the patients' experience with the tool, the children and adolescents completed a questionnaire. To assess the clinicians' experience, two focus groups were conducted with eight pediatricians. Results The children and adolescents indicated that the Kids-CAT was easy to complete. All pediatricians reported that the Kids-CAT was straightforward and easy to understand and integrate into clinical practice; they also expressed that routine implementation of the tool would be desirable and that the report was a valuable source of information, facilitating the assessment of self-reported HRQoL of their patients. Conclusions The Kids-CAT was considered an efficient and valuable tool for assessing HRQoL in children and adolescents. The Kids-CAT Report promises to be a useful adjunct to standard clinical care with the potential to improve patient-physician communication, enabling pediatricians to evaluate and monitor their young patients' selfreported HRQoL.