Abstract
BackgroundAsthma is a frequent chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, and the assessment of health-related quality of life (HrQoL) is important in both research and routine care. Various asthma-specific measures of HrQoL exist but there is uncertainty which measures are best suited for use in research and routine care. Therefore, the aim of the proposed research is a comprehensive systematic assessment of the measurement properties of the existing measures that were developed to measure asthma-specific quality of life.Methods/designThis study is a systematic review of the measurement properties of asthma-specific measures of health-related quality of life. PubMed and Embase will be searched using a selection of relevant search terms. Eligible studies will be primary empirical studies evaluating, describing or comparing measurement properties of asthma-specific HRQL tools. Eligibility assessment and data abstraction will be performed independently by two reviewers. Evidence tables will be generated for study characteristics, instrument characteristics, measurement properties and interpretability. The quality of the measurement properties will be assessed using predefined criteria. Methodological quality of studies will be assessed using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. A best evidence synthesis will be undertaken if more than one study have investigated a particular measurement property.DiscussionThe proposed systematic review will produce a comprehensive assessment of measurement properties of existing measures of asthma-specific health-related quality of life. We also aim to derive recommendations in order to help researchers and practitioners alike in the choice of instrument.Trial registrationPROSPERO registration number: CRD42014010491.
Highlights
Asthma is a frequent chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, and the assessment of health-related quality of life (HrQoL) is important in both research and routine care
The proposed systematic review will produce a comprehensive assessment of measurement properties of existing measures of asthma-specific health-related quality of life
Methods/design This study is a systematic review of the measurement properties of asthma-specific measures of health-related quality of life
Summary
The proposed systematic review will produce a comprehensive assessment of measurement properties of existing measures of asthma-specific health-related quality of life. We will report about strengths and limitations of our review and highlight future research and policy implications. For each instrument identified in the review, a standardized recommendation for usage or required future validation work will be made depending on the best evidence synthesis. B) Outcome measure achieves positive ratings (at least ‘+’) for at least two measurement properties, but performance in all other required measurement properties is unclear, so that the outcome measure has the potential to be recommended in the future depending on the results of further validation studies. Its performance in all or most relevant measurement properties is unclear, so that it is not recommended to be used until further validation studies clarify its quality.
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