Patient-reported outcomes in research on critically ill obstetric patients

• Published in: Obstetric medicine 2024-10, p.1753495X241290681
• Main Authors: Viau Lapointe, Julien, Juando-Prats, Clara, Zapata, Roberto, Kfouri, Julia, Ortuno-Nacho, Joyamor, Ashraf, Rizwana, D'Souza, Rohan, Rojas-Suarez, Jose, Lapinsky, Stephen E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 1753-495X; 1753-4968
• DOI: 10.1177/1753495X241290681

Research benefits from the incorporation of patient-important outcomes. We interviewed individuals after a critical illness during pregnancy to identify outcomes for the development of a core outcome set (COS). Participants were identified through intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in Toronto, Canada, and Barranquilla, Colombia. Interviewers used a semi-structured guide, and discussions were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts underwent inductive thematic analysis to delineate themes and patient-important outcomes. Twelve individuals were interviewed. Twenty-six patient-important outcomes were elicited, which represented the core outcome areas of mortality (  = 1), physiological/clinical outcomes (  = 7), functioning and life impact (  = 13), resource use (  = 4) and adverse events (  = 1). These related to five identified themes of mental well-being, quality of care delivered, clinicians' communication, regaining functional independence and mother-newborn separation. This qualitative study identified patient-important outcomes from persons with lived experience of critical illness in pregnancy which will inform the development of a COS.