Patient-reported outcome measures of help-seeking skills for children and adolescents: A COSMIN-based systematic review of the development quality and content validity

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the development quality and content validity of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of help-seeking skills for children and adolescents. A systematic review was performed in accordance with the COSMIN methodologies. Of the 1362 studies, seven measurement studies met inclusion criteria. Most of the extracted PROMs were characterized by asking about general tendencies without specifying the nature or partner of the help-seeking. Results suggested that none of the PROMs could be recommended for use. Inadequate development quality depended on the unclear measurement concept, the lack of confirmation of correspondence between its measurement concept and items in designing the PROM, and the absence of appropriate cognitive interviews. Poor content validity was evident across all PROMs against a background of non-party involvement.