Patient-reported outcome (PRO) has been described as a set of questions directed to the patients resulting from a clinical trial.
The Patient-reported outcome is hence the measurement of any change or feature of patient's health directly from the patient himself without the influence of a supervisor.
A PRO is usually in the form of a questionnaire in the clinical setting, where the patient has to answer the questions and report any health changes he or she observes.
The questionnaires in the PRO are known as the PRO instruments.
These PRO instruments help the patients to report directly without any physician's interpretation.
A well developed and designed PRO must assess in reporting a single characteristic or depending on the patient, multiple characteristics.
These characteristics are termed as constructs.
A questionnaire that is designed to measure only a single construct is said to be one-dimensional.
However, it has to be proven mathematically.
A questionnaire that can measure multiple constructs is said to be multi-dimensional.
Though it measures multiple constructs, each one is reported separately, since not all results can be grouped.
The goal of using PRO instruments is to provide better information to the doctor and patient and help getting the best treatment possible.
The questionnaire is the fundamental way to identify a person's problems and providing a better solution.
It is not possible for the drug to cure the patient if the patient is not ready to take the consequences of it emotionally.
For such situations, the PRO instruments are vital.
With the interactions they provide, it is easier to identify a problem from the person himself and provide solutions accordingly.