Patient reported outcome measures in rhinology.

Patient rated outcome measures (PROMs) are increasingly being used to supplement clinical measures of disease in order to assess how disease and medical intervention impacts on quality of life. As the primary aim of treatment for most rhinological conditions is to improve quality of life they have particular relevance in our sub-specialty. Some PROMs have been developed for particular conditions or treatments (disease-specific measures) while others were developed to be used in all patient groups or healthy individuals (generic measures). There are an increasing number of both disease-specific and global measures available for use in rhinological conditions, and they are reviewed. Both factors limiting wide scale adoption of PROMs into routine practice, and limitations of PROMs are also discussed.