Developing a core outcome set for chronic rhinosinusitis: a systematic review of outcomes utilised in the current literature

BACKGROUND: A core outcome set (COS) is an agreed standardised collection of outcomes that should be measured and reported by all trials for a specific clinical area, in this case chronic rhinosinusitis. These are not restrictive and researchers may continue to explore other outcomes alongside these that they feel are relevant to their intervention. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the need for a COS for chronic rhinosinusitis. METHODS: A sensitive search strategy was used to identify all published Cochrane systematic reviews and randomised control trials of intervention for adult patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. Two independent authors reviewed these to obtain a list of outcomes and outcome measures reported by each clinical trial. RESULTS: Sixty-nine randomised control trials and eight Cochrane systematic reviews were included in this study. They reported 68 individual outcomes and outcome measures, with an average of four to ten outcomes per clinical trial. These outcomes were mapped to 23 subcategories belonging to eight core categories. CONCLUSIONS: The key finding of this review was the heterogeneity of outcomes reported and measured by clinical trials of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis, precluding meaningful meta-analysis of data. This review supports the need for development of a COS, to be used in future trials on adult patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.

Contributors

Soni-Jaiswal, A. Lakhani, R. Hopkins, C.

Publication

Journal: Trials
Volume: 18
Issue: 1
Pages: 320 -
Year: 2017
DOI:

Further Study Information

Current Stage: Not Applicable
Date:
Funding source(s):


Health Area

Disease Category: Ear, nose, & throat

Disease Name: Rhinosinusitis , Sinusitis (chronic rhinosinusitis)

Target Population

Age Range: 18 - 100

Sex: Either

Nature of Intervention: Any

Stakeholders Involved

Study Type

- Systematic review of outcomes measured in trials

Method(s)

- Systematic review