I want to select the most suitable outcome measurement instrument

You are deciding on the most suitable outcome measurement instrument for your study. This decision should be based on the evidence of the quality of available outcome measurement instruments (i.e. reliability, validity, and responsiveness), as well as on aspects of feasibility. A high-quality performed systematic review on outcome measurement instruments gives you a clear overview of all important aspects to make your choice.

Resources to help you select the most suitable measurement instrument:

1. Have a look in the COSMIN Database for Systematic Reviews on outcome measurement instruments to find the review of your interest.
2. Conduct a systematic review on outcome measurement instruments.

To come to an evidence-based and fully transparent recommendation on the most suitable outcome measurement instrument, we recommend to follow our guidelines that were specifically developed for patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). We recommend categorizing each included PROM into three categories:

A PROMs with evidence for sufficient content validity (any level) AND at least low quality evidence for sufficient internal consistency;

B PROMs categorized not in A or C.

C PROMs with high quality evidence for an insufficient measurement property

PROMs categorized as ‘A’ can be recommended for use and results obtained with these PROMs can be trusted. PROMs categorized as ‘B’ have potential to be recommended for use, but they require further research to assess the quality of these PROMs. PROMs categorized as ‘C’ should not be recommended for use. When only PROMs categorized as ‘B’ are found in a review, the one with the best evidence for content validity could be the one to be provisionally recommended for use, until further evidence is provided.