This article is part of the supplement: 6th European Conference on Rare Diseases and Orphan Products

Open Access Meeting abstract

Listening to children’s and parents’ voices: using patient reported outcomes to empower patients with orphan diseases and their parents

Linda Abetz-Webb

Author Affiliations

Rob Arbuckle, Adelphi Values, Bollington, Cheshire, UK

Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 2012, 7(Suppl 2):A30 doi:10.1186/1750-1172-7-S2-A30


The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.ojrd.com/content/7/S2/A30


Published:22 November 2012

© 2012 Abetz-Webb; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background

Systematic evaluation of outcomes is essential for clinical trial research, yet outcomes often neglect the voice of the child and parent, particularly within paediatric orphan diseases.

While guidance for the development and validation of Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) and Observer Reported Outcomes (ObsRO) measures are available from EMA and FDA , little attention has focused on paediatric and orphan disease PRO/ObsRO development methods[1,2].

Methods

We summarize considerations for the development, validation and use of paediatric measures and provide examples of their successful use.

Results

Table 1 provides the recommended steps for PRO/ObsRO development, as well as the challenges and potential solutions in PRO/ObsRO development in paediatrics and orphan diseases. When developing paediatric measures, it is critical to use developmentally appropriate language and techniques to ensure measures have content validity and will be reliable and valid.

Table 1. Challenges and potential solutions for PRO/ObsRO development and implementation in paediatrics and orphan indications

Concept elicitation (using qualitative research) and psychometric validation require samples sizes within narrow age bands (0-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17), but also need to consider rates of development within the context of the condition being studied. From 0-5 years, parents are asked about child behaviours they observe that are indicative of symptoms or impact. For 6-11 years, the child and parent should be asked though simple questions, with images attached to responses, should be used for the child. For 12-17 years, more adult language (without jargon) can be used. Pooling data across ages can only be considered if different age versions are shown to be conceptually equivalent.

PROs have been used to aid decision making for regulatory approval (as in the case of Icatibant for the treatment of Heriditary Angioedema)[3-5] and reimbursement (as in the case of Exjade for the treatment of iron overload for B-thallaesemia and sickle cell disease)[6,7].

Conclusions

Strong paediatric PRO/ObsRO research is needed to ensure ‘fit for purpose’ outcomes are used in paediatric trials to collect robust evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of drugs for children who have orphan diseases. When successfully implemented, all stakeholders benefit: regulators, payers, doctors, parents and most importantly, the children themselves.

References

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