Measurement instruments for the core outcome set of congenital melanocytic naevi and an assessment of the measurement properties according to COSMIN: a systematic review

Background: Congenital melanocytic naevi (CMN) can impact on patients' lives due to their appearance and the risk they carry of neurological complications or melanoma development. The development of a core outcome set (COS) will allow standardised reporting and enable comparison of outcomes. This will help to improve guidelines. In previous research, relevant stakeholders reached a consensus over which core outcomes should be measured in any future care or research. The next step of the COS development is to select the appropriate measurement instruments.

Aim: Step 1: to update a systematic review identifying all core outcomes and measurement instruments available for CMN. Step 2: to evaluate the measurement properties of the instruments for the core outcomes.

Methods: This study was registered in PROSPERO and performed according to the PRISMA checklist. Step 1 includes a literature search in EMBASE (Ovid), PubMed and the Cochrane Library to identify core outcomes and instruments previously used in research of CMN. Step 2 yields a systematic search for studies on the measurement properties of instruments that were either developed or validated for CMN, including a methodological quality assessment following the COSMIN methodology.

Results: Step 1 included twenty-nine studies. Step 2 yielded two studies, investigating two quality of life measurement instruments.

Conclusion: Step 1 provided an overview of outcomes and instruments used for CMN. Step 2 showed that additional research on measurement properties is needed to evaluate which instruments can be used for the COS of CMN. This study informs the instrument selection and/or development of new instruments.

Contributors

A.C. Fledderus, T. Booma, C.M. Legematea, C.M.A.M. van der Horst, P.I. Spuls

Publication

Journal: JPRAS Open
Volume: 35
Issue:
Pages: 58 - 75
Year: 2023
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpra.2022.11.003

Further Study Information

Current Stage: Completed
Date:
Funding source(s): This study was partly funded by foundation ‘De Merel’


Health Area

Disease Category: Skin

Disease Name: Congenital melanocytic naevi

Target Population

Age Range: 0 - 100

Sex: Either

Nature of Intervention: Observation, Surgery

Stakeholders Involved

Study Type

- Systematic review of outcome measures/measurement instruments

Method(s)

- Systematic review

Step 1: A systematic review to identify and describe the outcomes and instruments used in previously published studies for CMN, as an update from a previously performed systematic review. The previously systematic review included all outcomes and instruments used; the update only focusses on the outcomes of the COS and their instruments.
Step 2: A systematic review to evaluate the quality of the measurement instruments developed or validated for domains and outcomes of the COS of CMN.