• Viren Patel, Jessica R Cunning, Arturo J Rios-Diaz, Jaclyn T Mauch, Shelby L Nathan, Charles A Messa, Cutler B Whitely, Geoffrey M Kozak, Robyn B Broach, and John P Fischer.
• Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Ann. Surg. 2022 Dec 1; 276 (6): 103910461039-1046.

ObjectiveThis study assesses the user burden, reliability, and longitudinal validity of the AHQ, a novel VH patient-reported outcomes measure (PROM).BackgroundWe developed and psychometrically validated the AHQ as the first VH-specific, stakeholder-informed PROM. Yet, there remains a need to assess the AHQ's clinical applicability and further validate its psychometric properties.MethodsTo assess patient burden, pre- and postoperative patients were timed while completing the corresponding AHQ form. To measure test-retest reliability, a subset of patients completed the AHQ within a week of initial completion, and consecutive responses were correlated. Lastly, patients undergoing VH repair were prospectively administered the pre- and postoperative AHQ forms, the Hernia-Related Quality of Life Survey and the Short Form-12 both preoperatively and at postoperative intervals, up to over a year after surgery. Quality-of-Life scores were correlated from the 3 PROMs and effect sizes were compared using analysis of normal variance.ResultsMedian response times for the pre- and postoperative AHQ were 1.1 and 2.7 minutes, respectively. The AHQ demonstrates high test-retest reliability coefficients for pre- and postoperative instruments ( r = 0.91, 0.89). The AHQ appropriately and proportionally measures expected changes following surgery and significantly correlates with all times points of theHernia-Related Quality of Life Survey and Short Form-12 MS and 4/5 (80%) SF12-PS.ConclusionThe AHQ is a patient-informed, psychometrically-validated, clinical instrument for measuring, quantifying, and tracking PROMs in VH patients. The AHQ exhibits low response burden, excellent reliability, and effectively measures hernia-specific changes in quality-of-Life following ventral hernia repair.Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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