Measuring Outcomes in Oncology Treatment: The Importance of Patient-Centered Outcomes

An important component of quality healthcare is that it be patient-centered with a focus on the patient, including his or her preferences, values, and beliefs. The goal of this article is to provide a broad overview of patient-centered outcomes in oncologic research. It starts with an introduction to the different types of patient-centered measures including patient satisfaction, decision regret, patient preference, and health-related quality of life. It then offers an overview of survey instrument design and selection. Finally, it provides examples of existing approaches to measurement and previously validated instruments for each type of patient-centered outcome.