Abstract
BackgroundAlthough a variety of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for children have been developed, there is no pediatric PROM specific to Korean medicine (KM) that is validated by experts in the field. The aim of this study was to collate the opinions of specialists in KM pediatrics on the development of a generic PROM that can be used by Korean medical doctors to assess the health status of children.MethodsA three-round Delphi survey was conducted to determine the level of consensus on the development of a new PROM. Delphi questionnaires were sent by e-mail to 91 KM pediatricians on January 24, 2018. The Delphi questionnaire was composed of four sections: conceptualization, construction, items, and sources of content for a PROM. A nine-point Likert scale was used, and if more than two-thirds of the panels agreed or disagreed with a given sentence, they were considered to have reached a consensus. A draft of a PROM for the pediatric field of KM was developed in accordance with the preliminary conceptual framework.ResultsOut of 91 experts, 18 finished three rounds of the Delphi survey. The experts reached a consensus on the necessity of a KM pediatric PROM for measuring various areas including child health, and using Likert scales with a recall period of 3 months. They also agreed on specific items and sources of content. A new draft of a health questionnaire for KM pediatrics was developed based on the Delphi consensus. It contains 44 items covering 7 domains: i) functions of the digestive system, ii) functions of the respiratory system, iii) mental functions, iv) skin functions, v) pain, vi) functions of the metabolic and endocrine systems, and vii) demographic details.ConclusionsThis research represents the first step in developing a health questionnaire for the pediatric field of KM. The questionnaire can be used in clinical and research settings after verifying several types of validity and reliability.
Highlights
A variety of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for children have been developed, there is no pediatric PROM specific to Korean medicine (KM) that is validated by experts in the field
The aim of this study was to investigate the level of consensus of experts on a new pediatric PROM that is suited to the methodologies of KM, that can ease the monitoring and evaluation of the benefits of KM treatments in children
Participants Delphi questionnaires on PROM for KM pediatrics were sent by e-mail to 91 experts in KM pediatrics on January 24, 2018
Summary
A variety of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for children have been developed, there is no pediatric PROM specific to Korean medicine (KM) that is validated by experts in the field. The aim of this study was to collate the opinions of specialists in KM pediatrics on the development of a generic PROM that can be used by Korean medical doctors to assess the health status of children. Korean medicine doctors (KMDs) and medical doctors obtain independent licenses and use different treatment methods. KMDs mainly use herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion, and manual therapy for treating patients [2]. In 2016, 23,460 licensed KMDs were practicing at 14,142 KM clinics or KM hospitals in the Republic of Korea. The KM specialist training system was implemented in 1999 by the Ministry of
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