TTP8.16 Process barriers to completion of electronic patient reported outcome measures

Abstract Aims General surgery affects patients’ quality of life, yet it is not routinely evaluated. Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) evaluate health and quality of life. Implementation of innovation into routine practice is challenging. The aim of this service evaluation was to assess the level of patient engagement with electronic PROMs. Methods Data were collected on patients undergoing elective general surgery between July 2024 and January 2025. Inclusion criteria were: 1) general surgery procedure, 2) eligible for completion of pre- and post-operative EQ5D questionnaires. Complex colorectal procedures were excluded. Statistical analysis was performed in the R Statistical Computing environment. Results 1,258 patients underwent elective general surgery, of which 429 consented to PROMs and were sent pre-operative EQ5D questionnaire. 280 patients completed all elements of EQ5D pre-operatively. All patients who fully-completed the pre-operative questionnaire were sent the post-operative EQ5D, with 57 completing the latter. Patients consenting to PROMs and completing the pre-operative questionnaire were more likely to be older than those not consenting to participate (p = 0.029). Consenting patients, who completed the pre-operative questionnaire, were more likely to be female than those who consented but did not complete one (p = 0.008). Conclusions Evaluation of PROMs implementation revealed three stages of patient drop off: 1) Reduced initial recruitment due to lack of documented consent (predominantly from failure to capture), 2) Non-engagement despite consenting, 3) Non-engagement with the follow-up post-operative questionnaire. Further investigation of barriers is required in order to improve reach and facilitate more effective implementation of PROMs into routine practice.