Work

Patient Reported Outcome Measures and Patient Reported Experience Measures for Dental Practice Quality Improvement Via Deliberative Stakeholder Consultation in the United Kingdom

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Patient feedback have potential to drive quality improvement in dental care. However, there is a lack of clarity regarding which elements of patient feedback should be used. This study aimed to select appropriate patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) for use in audit and feedback-based quality improvement in dental practices in the UK. METHODS: A 2-phase, evidence-informed deliberative process-comprising evidence synthesis and Deliberative Stakeholder Consultations (DSCs)-was conducted. Phase 1: PROMs and PREMs candidate items were identified through systematic literature search and thematically analyzed. Phase 2: Dental patients and professionals were recruited for DSCs through purposive and snowball sampling. Inductive thematic analysis of DSC transcripts was conducted, and the final measures were agreed (5 for each dental encounter: check-up, planned treatment, and urgent care). RESULTS: In phase 1, 672 measures (across 8 themes such as psychological/social impacts) were identified. In phase 2, 8 dentists and 5 patients participated (March-May 2024). Stakeholder priorities were as follows. Check-up appointments: dentist's communication skills regarding treatment options and cost, and the cleanliness of facilities. Planned treatment: effective pain management during procedures and overall satisfaction with treatment. Urgent care: management of patient fear/anxiety and pain relief following a procedure. Communication of treatment progress and provision of post-operative advice were considered important in both planned and routine treatment. Waiting times for appointments were a priority across all encounters. CONCLUSION: Eleven measures (after removing duplicates) were selected for the encounters to offer meaningful potential for operationalizing quality improvement in dental practices. DSCs were also perceived as a useful method for prioritizing measures for quality improvement. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study is the first to identify actionable PROMs and PREMs which can be used for audit and feedback loops in dental practices. These measures will be tested in DELIVER case studies.

Source: International Dental Journal

DOI: 10.1016/j.identj.2025.103961

Authors: Chiu-Yi Lin, Wendy Thompson, Lucy O’Malley, Stefan Listl, Valeska Fehrer, Matthew Byrne

Institutions: University of Manchester, Heidelberg University, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health

Language: English

Topic: Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,550