Child- and Proxy-reported Differences in Patient-reported Outcome and Experience Measures in Pediatric Surgery: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

In brief

This systematic review examines discrepancies between children's self-reported health outcomes and their parents' proxy reports in pediatric surgical populations. The analysis reveals important differences in how children versus parents perceive treatment experiences and health status, highlighting the need for direct child input in surgical outcome assessment.

• Proxy reports by parents may not fully capture children's actual health experiences and outcomes in pediatric surgery settings.
• Children with surgical conditions have unique, evolving healthcare journeys requiring direct assessment rather than proxy-only reporting.
• Systematic comparison of child-reported vs parent-reported PROMs and PREMs reveals clinically significant differences in health status.
• Direct child reporting provides distinct insights that complement parent perspectives in pediatric surgical outcome assessment.
• Accurate pediatric surgical outcome measurement requires incorporating both child and proxy perspectives in clinical practice.

Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.