Psychometric Results of a New Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Uveal Melanoma Post-Brachytherapy Treatment: The PROM-UM

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new patient-reported outcome instrument intended for use with patients who have undergone brachytherapy for uveal melanoma (PROM-UM). Classical test theory and item response theory were used to evaluate the performance of individual items and domains. A convenience sample of 439 participants who had undergone brachytherapy for uveal melanoma from one of three North American ocular oncology treatment centers were included in this cross-sectional study. Exploratory factor analysis identified three domains which were labelled “Symptom Impairment”, “Worry”, and “Discomfort”. The acceptability of the instrument was supported by little missing data (range = 0.00–1.14%) and low maximum endorsement (range = 0.00–1.82%). Item-total (range = 0.68–0.85) and inter-item (range = 0.74–0.80) correlations indicated acceptable reliability. Discrimination and difficulty were assessed using item response theory. Items in all three domains indicated moderate to very high discrimination (range = 1.00–4.10). Two items in the Symptom Impairment domain were too difficult to measure. Response ranges in the other two domains demonstrated acceptable difficulty. These results from the study indicate that this new patient-reported outcome instrument can be used with patients treated with brachytherapy for uveal melanoma. Providers could use this instrument to help inform post-treatment management.