Trends in the use of patient-reported outcome measures for inguinal hernia repair: a quantitative systematic review

Purpose: To quantitatively assess the use of patient-reported outcome measures in studies involving patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair. Methods: We performed a systematic literature search in Medline and EMBASE. We included all studies published between 2000 and 2019 that involved > 5 patients receiving inguinal hernia repair and evaluated a postoperative patient-reported outcome measure. Studies were stratified in 5-year intervals. We extracted data on which patient-reported outcome measure was used, its time of administration, study design, and the size and composition of the study population. Data were presented using descriptive statistics. Results: We included 929 studies that covered 81 different patient-reported outcome measures. Of these, the Short-Form 36 was the most commonly used generic instrument (14%), the Carolinas Comfort Scale was the most commonly used hernia-specific instrument (5%), and the Visual Analogue Scale was the most commonly used domain-specific instrument (70%). There was a proportional decrease in the use of generic instruments, from 24% of studies in 2000–2004 to only 14% of studies in 2015–2019. Conversely, there was an increase in the use of hernia-specific instruments, from 0% in 2000–2004 to 18% in 2015–2019. Conclusions: There is heterogeneity in the use of patient-reported outcome measures in the field of inguinal hernia research. The use of hernia-specific instruments is increasing, the use of generic instruments is decreasing, and the use of domain-specific instruments remains consistently high. This study serves as a repository of all available patient-reported outcome measures relevant to patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair.