Dataset Information

International multiphase mixed methods study protocol to develop a patient-reported outcome instrument for children and adolescents with lower limb deformities.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Our recent systematic review has indicated the lack of a patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children and adolescents with lower limb deformities. We are developing a PRO instrument which will be applicable internationally across various countries. This manuscript describes our approach to the development of a new PRO instrument for measuring HRQOL for children and adolescents with lower limb deformities.

Methods and analysis

Three phases in the development of this PRO instrument are as described: (1) This phase involves the development of a conceptual framework of HRQOL and item pool that is used to inform a set of preliminary scales. We have developed a preliminary conceptual framework of HRQOL based on our systematic review. Qualitative interviews are being conducted at five sites in Canada, Ethiopia, India and the USA. An item pool will be generated from this qualitative phase. The preliminary items and scales will be sent out to children at the five participating centres. Cognitive debriefing interviews will gather detailed feedback on the items from the children. Expert opinion will be sought from clinicians from the participating centres. (2) During this phase, an international field-test study will be conducted to refine the scales and examine their psychometric properties. (3) During this phase, tests of reliability, validity and responsiveness will be conducted. Phase 1 will also involve translations and cultural adaptations. At the end of this study, we expect to produce an internationally applicable PRO instrument which is scientifically sound and clinically relevant to the lower limb deformity population.

Ethics and dissemination

This study is approved by Research Ethics Boards for each of the participating sites.Results of this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. An integrated knowledge translation approach is applied to engage patients, families and clinicians from the start of the study.

SUBMITTER: Chhina H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6502042 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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International multiphase mixed methods study protocol to develop a patient-reported outcome instrument for children and adolescents with lower limb deformities.

Chhina Harpreet H Klassen Anne A Kopec Jacek A JA Oliffe John J Cooper Anthony A

BMJ open 20190505 5

<h4>Introduction</h4>Our recent systematic review has indicated the lack of a patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children and adolescents with lower limb deformities. We are developing a PRO instrument which will be applicable internationally across various countries. This manuscript describes our approach to the development of a new PRO instrument for measuring HRQOL for children and adolescents with lower limb deformities.<h4>Methods ...[more]

PMID: 31061048

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Project description:BACKGROUND:A current limitation in the care of patients with severe lower extremity traumatic injuries is the lack of a rigorously developed patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument specific to lower extremity trauma patients. OBJECTIVE:This mixed methods protocol aims to describe phases I and II of the development of a PRO instrument for lower extremity trauma patients, following international PRO development guidelines. METHODS:The phase I study follows an interpretive description approach. Development of the PRO instrument begins with identifying the concepts that are important to patients, after which a preliminary conceptual framework is devised from a systematic literature review and used to generate an interview guide. Patients aged 18 years or above with limb-threatening lower extremity traumatic injuries resulting in reconstruction, amputation, or amputation after failed reconstruction will be recruited. The subjects will participate in semistructured, in-depth qualitative interviews to identify all important concepts of interest. The qualitative interview data will be coded with top-level domains, themes, and subthemes. The codes will then be utilized to refine the conceptual framework and generate preliminary items and a set of scales. The preliminary scales will be further refined via a process of conducting cognitive debriefing interviews with lower extremity trauma patients and soliciting expert opinions. Phase III will include a large-scale field test, using Rasch measurement theory to analyze the psychometric properties of the instrument; shortening and finalizing the scales; and determining the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the instrument. RESULTS:Phases I and II of this study have been funded. Phase I of this study has been completed, and phase II began in January 2019 and is expected to be completed in November 2019. Phase III will begin following the completion of phase II. CONCLUSIONS:This protocol describes the initial phases of development of a novel PRO instrument for use in lower extremity trauma patients. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID):DERR1-10.2196/14397.

Project description:BackgroundLower limb deformities include conditions such as leg length discrepancy, lower limb deficiency and associated angular and rotational deformities of the hips, knees, ankles and feet. Children with lower limb deformities often have physical limitations due to gait irregularities and pain. The differences in the appearance and function of their lower limbs can discourage participation in social, recreational and leisure activities, which may result in behavioural, emotional, psychological and social adjustment problems. The health-related quality of life (HRQL) of these children is often impacted due to the factors discussed above, as well as by the complex surgical procedures. Surgical treatment options for limb deformities in children vary from limb lengthening and reconstruction to amputation. The lack of evidence demonstrating superiority of either treatment options and their effect on HRQL limits the ability of healthcare providers to counsel families on the best evidence-based treatment option for them. This manuscript describes the international qualitative study which guided the development of a new patient-reported outcome measure (PROM). Individual semi-structured face-to-face interviews with children with lower limb deformities and their parents were conducted at five sites: Canada (2 sites), Ethiopia, India and the USA.ResultsSeventy-nine interviews were conducted at five international sites. Five main themes emerged from the qualitative interviews and formed the basis of the conceptual framework. These themes were: 1) appearance, 2) physical health, 3) psychological health 4) school and 5) social health.ConclusionsLower limb deformities have a substantial impact on the HRQL of children. The concepts of interest identified in our study were similar across children from all countries. The conceptual framework guided the development of outcome scales specific to these patients. The information about the impact of various treatment options on the HRQL of children with lower limb deformities, collected using this new PROM, could be used to inform parents and children about outcomes (physical, social, psychological) associated with specific treatment options. This information could supplement other objective outcome information (e.g., complication rates, how the leg will look, etc.) to help families to come to a more informed decision on a child's course of treatment.

Project description:IntroductionDeformities of the lower extremities can be congenital or acquired. Various surgical treatments have been employed for such disorders including osteotomy followed by either external fixation, internal fixation or external fixator assisted internal fixation. The aim of surgery is correction of deformity and restoration of mechanical axis and joint line. External fixator assisted internal fixation with intramedullary (IM) nail insertion is considered the gold standard, however, it is less commonly practiced as expertise required are usually not available at most centers. This study was conducted to assess the radiological and functional outcomes after fixator assisted IM nailing for correction of lower limbs deformity.MethodsIt was a retrospective study at a tertiary care hospital. All cases of lower limb deformity whose correction was done with fixator assisted IM nailing from 2010 till 2017 were analyzed. Pre Op x-rays and post op x rays were analyzed for Mechanical Axis Deviation (MAD), anatomical Lateral Distal Femoral Angle (aLDFA), mechanical Lateral Distal Femoral Angle (mLDFA) and Medial Proximal Tibial Angle (MPTA), post-operative activity and functional status of the patients. Data was analyzed using SPSS.ResultsThirteen patients were included in the study. Fixator assisted IM nailing was performed on 29 long bones of these patients including 16 femur and 13 tibial deformities. Pre Op and Post Op comparison was done for MAD, aLDFA, mLDFA, MPTA. Pre op mean MAD was 38.87 ± 25.58 post op mean MAD 17.54 ± 12.25 mm. Only 2 of our patients developed knee stiffness for which manipulation under anesthesia was done. One of our patients developed weakness in toe extension, which recovered after 6 months. On follow up evaluation patients had normal range of motion and no functional limitation.ConclusionFixator assisted IM nailing for deformity correction is a better option, because it has advantages of both external fixator and internal fixator. Knee stiffness associated with external fixator can be prevented. It is more convenient for patient.

Project description:Debilitating rickets-like lower limb deformities are common in children throughout the world, particularly in Malawi, Africa where the causes are unknown. We have identified that Blount disease and calcium deficiency rickets are the likely causes of these deformities and propose calcium supplementation as a potential treatment of Malawian rickets.Surgical correction of rickets-like lower limb deformities is the most common paediatric operation performed at Beit Cure Orthopaedic Hospital, Malawi. The aim of this study was to investigate the aetiology of these deformities.Children with a tibio-femoral angle of deformity >20° were enrolled (n = 42, 3.0-15.0 years). Anthropometric and early life and well-being data were collected. Early morning serum and urine samples were collected on the morning of the operation for markers of calcium and phosphate homeostasis. Knee radiographs were obtained, and the children were diagnosed with either Blount (BD, n = 22) or evidence of rickets disease (RD, n = 20). As BD is a mechanical rather than metabolic disease, BD were assumed to be biochemically representative of the local population and thus used as a local reference for RD.There were no differences in anthropometry or early life experiences between BD and RD. Parathyroid hormone (PTH), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, total alkaline phosphatase and urinary phosphate were significantly higher and serum phosphate, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and tubular maximal reabsorption of phosphate significantly lower in RD than BD. There was no difference in serum calcium, fibroblast growth factor 23 or markers of iron status between groups. All children had 25OHD > 25 nmol/L.Vitamin D deficiency is not implicated in the aetiology of RD or BD in Malawian children. The cause of RD in Malawi is likely to be dietary calcium deficiency leading to elevated PTH resulting in increased losses of phosphate from the bone and glomerular filtrate. The causes of BD remain unclear; there was no evidence in support of previously suggested risk factors such as being overweight or starting to walk early. Prior to surgical intervention, supplementation with calcium should be considered for children with RD.

Project description:IntroductionA critical barrier to outcome assessment in gender-affirming healthcare is the lack of a specific patient-reported outcome measure (PROM). This phase I protocol describes an international collaboration between investigators in Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the USA who have coalesced to develop a new PROM (ie, the GENDER-Q) to evaluate outcomes of psychological, hormonal and surgical gender-affirming treatments.Methods and analysisThis phase I study uses an interpretive description approach. Participants aged 16 years and older seeking any form of gender-affirming treatments in centres located in Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the USA will be invited to take part in qualitative interviews. Participants will review BREAST-Q and FACE-Q scales hypothesised to contain content relevant to specific gender-affirming treatments. Interviews will elicit new concepts for additional scale development. Each interview will be digitally recorded, transcribed and coded. The main outcome of this phase I study will be the development of a conceptual framework and set of scales to measure outcomes important to evaluating gender-affirming treatments. To this end, analysis will be used to add/drop/revise items of existing scales to achieve content validity. For new concepts, coding will assign top-level domains and themes/subthemes to participant quotes. Codes will be used to develop an item pool to inform scale development. Draft scales will be shown to transgender and gender diverse persons and experts to obtain feedback that will be used to refine and finalise the scales. The field-test version of the GENDER-Q will be translated by following rigorous methods to prepare for the international field-test study.Ethics and disseminationThis study is coordinated at McMaster University (Canada). Ethics board approval was received from the Hamilton Integrated Ethics Board (Canada), the Medical Ethical Committee at VUmc (The Netherlands) and Advarra (USA). Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences and meetings.

Dataset Information

International multiphase mixed methods study protocol to develop a patient-reported outcome instrument for children and adolescents with lower limb deformities.

Introduction

Methods and analysis

Ethics and dissemination

Publications

International multiphase mixed methods study protocol to develop a patient-reported outcome instrument for children and adolescents with lower limb deformities.

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