Study protocol for developing, piloting and disseminating the PRISMA-COSMIN guideline: a new reporting guideline for systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments

Abstract

Background Systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments are important tools in the evidence-based selection of these instruments. COSMIN (COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments) has developed a comprehensive and widespread guideline to conduct systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments, but key information is often missing in published reviews. This hinders the appraisal of the quality of outcome measurement instruments, impacts the decisions of knowledge users regarding their appropriateness, and compromises reproducibility and interpretability of the reviews’ findings. To facilitate sufficient, transparent, and consistent reporting of systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments, an extension of the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting of Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2020 guideline will be developed: the PRISMA-COSMIN guideline. Methods The PRISMA-COSMIN guideline will be developed in accordance with recommendations for reporting guideline development from the EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network. First, a candidate reporting item list will be created through an environmental literature scan and expert consultations. Second, an international Delphi study will be conducted with systematic review authors, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, psychometricians/clinimetricians, reporting guideline developers, journal editors as well as patients, caregivers, and members of the public. Delphi panelists will rate candidate items for inclusion on a 5-point scale, suggest additional candidate items, and give feedback on item wording and comprehensibility. Third, the draft PRISMA-COSMIN guideline and user manual will be iteratively piloted by applying it to systematic reviews in several disease areas to assess its relevance, comprehensiveness, and comprehensibility, along with usability and user satisfaction. Fourth, a consensus meeting will be held to finalize the PRISMA-COSMIN guideline through roundtable discussions and voting. Last, a user manual will be developed and the final PRISMA-COSMIN guideline will be disseminated through publications, conferences, newsletters, and relevant websites. Additionally, relevant journals and organizations will be invited to endorse and implement PRISMA-COSMIN. Throughout the project, evaluations will take place to identify barriers and facilitators of involving patient/public partners and employing a virtual process. Discussion The PRISMA-COSMIN guideline will ensure that the reports of systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments are complete and informative, enhancing their reproducibility, ease of use, and uptake.

Indicators and Instruments to Assess Components of Disability in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review

“…The indicators and respective instruments summarized in this review identified modifications along with age. However, the report or calculation of the related validity, feasibility, and repeatability of each of the instruments should be addressed in future studies, taking as a reference the, in-development, PRISMA–COSMIN guidelines [ 105 ]. This evaluation will allow for the selection of instruments with superior psychometric properties.…”

Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy: A Systematic Review of Psychometric Properties Using COSMIN

“…In this phase, we considered eight measurement proprieties for each self-report breastfeeding self-efficacy tool: content validity, structural validity, internal consistency, cross-cultural validity/measurement invariance, reliability, hypotheses testing for construct validity, criterion validity, and responsiveness (Elsman et al, 2022; Mokkink et al, 2006; Prinsen et al, 2018). The COSMIN manual includes two additional evaluation parameters: PROM development and measurement error.…”

“…More precisely, it consists of a comprehensive framework that provides a standardized and transparent way of evaluating the methodological quality of PROMs, as per the case of breastfeeding self-efficacy measurements. The COSMIN methodology includes a checklist that evaluates the methodological quality of PROMs across several measurement properties and allows researchers to assess the quality of PROMs in a standardized and comprehensive manner (Elsman et al, 2022; Mokkink, de Vet, et al, 2018; Mokkink et al, 2006; Terwee et al, 2018).…”

“…The variables characterizing the measurements of this systematic review and the process used to extract data from the included articles were described in the data collection, quality assessment (Phase Two), in relation to content validity, structural validity, internal consistency, cross-cultural validity/measurement invariance, reliability, hypotheses testing for construct validity, criterion validity, and responsiveness (Elsman et al, 2022; Mokkink et al, 2006; Prinsen et al, 2018).…”

Evaluation of ‘implications for research’ sections in systematic reviews of interventions in advanced cancer patients – a meta-research study

“…This IfR guideline would include all potentially relevant IfR elements and could be further supplemented with suggestions for an appropriate wording based on application examples. Developing such an IfR guideline is an iterative process and should be based on established methods like Delphi study, survey of experts, and iterative group discussions to reach consensus as applied for the development of other wellknown reporting guidelines [8, [22][23][24][25].…”