Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are questionnaires that ask patients about their health and experience of care. They are important because they help services understand what matters to patients, not just how services perform. PROM-OPAC is a questionnaire designed for older people living with frailty who attend hospital for urgent or emergency care. However, many people in this group also have problems with memory or thinking, and it has been unclear whether PROM-OPAC can be used reliably with them.
In this study, older people with frailty and cognitive impairment were invited to complete PROM-OPAC during an acute hospital attendance. We examined whether people were able to complete the questionnaire, how long it took, and whether the questions worked as intended.
The study recruited 60 older people. All participants were living with frailty and having cognitive impairment. Here, cognitive impairment included dementia and delirium. The participants were invited to complete the PROM-OPAC while they were receiving or waiting for care in the Emergency Department at Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, UK.
Most participants were able to complete PROM-OPAC, usually within a few minutes, even when cognitive impairment was significant. The findings suggest that older people with frailty and cognitive impairment can share their views about care using PROMs, supporting more inclusive and patient-centred evaluation of acute hospital care.