• Mark H F Keulen, Teun Teunis, Gregg A Vagner, David Ring, and Lee M Reichel.
• Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
• J Hand Surg Am. 2018 Dec 1; 43 (12): 1141.e1-1141.e9.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine whether positively or negatively phrased Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) prior to a visit with the hand surgeon affect patient perceived empathy and patient satisfaction (Patient-Reported Experience Measures [PREMs]).MethodsBetween June 2017 and July 2017, we enrolled 134 patients who presented to 3 hand surgeons at 2 outpatient offices. They were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: completion of negatively framed questionnaires (Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-2], Pain Catastrophizing Scale [PCS-4], and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System [PROMIS] depression Computer Adaptive Test [CAT]) or completion of positively framed questionnaires (Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire [PSEQ-2]) prior to the visit. At the end of the visit, all patients completed questionnaires on patient-perceived physician empathy and patient satisfaction. Five patients were excluded from the analysis after randomization.ResultsThere was no statistically significant differences between groups on patient-perceived physician empathy and patient satisfaction.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the content of psychological questionnaires completed prior to the visit does not affect patient satisfaction and perceived empathy recorded after the visit.Clinical RelevanceGiven the degree to which PROMs are influenced by psychosocial factors, and prior evidence that PROMs are primed by negatively framed questionnaires, it is reassuring that negatively framed PROMs did not affect PREMs, but more research is merited.Copyright © 2018 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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