Effects and experiences of idiographic patient-reported outcome measures for feedback in psychotherapy: A systematic review and secondary analysis of the empirical literature

Abstract

Objective: There is a growing interest in idiographic patient-reported outcome measures (I-PROMs) for routine outcome monitoring (ROM) and clinical feedback (CF) in psychotherapy, but to our knowledge, no systematic reviews of the empirical literature. Method: We conducted a systematic literature search for empirical papers investigating effects and experiences of I-PROMs for ROM/CF and found a total of 13 papers. There was only one experimental controlled effectiveness study. Results: We formulated a narrative summary of the data set as a whole. We conducted a secondary analysis of nine papers containing qualitative data on stakeholder experiences with I-PROMs and found three superordinate themes and eight subthemes, summarized as “I-PROMs can facilitate self-reflection for patients, assist in identifying and tracking therapeutic topics, and make patients more committed to therapy by giving them a greater sense of responsibility and empowerment. Formulating goals and problems can be difficult, and lack of progress can be demotivating. Time in therapy is precious and must be spent wisely. Effective use of I-PROMs is facilitated by flexibility and therapists’ use of clinical skills.” Conclusion: We discuss the limitations of the study and provide recommendations for future research and clinical practice.

Keywords:

• psychotherapy
• idiographic patient-reported outcome measures (I-PROMs)
• routine outcome monitoring (ROM)
• clinical feedback

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Marianne Nesbjørg Tvedt from the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences for her aid in the literature search process.

Disclosure Statement

Professor Mick Cooper developed the Goals Form, which is featured in this review. The measure is in the public domain for individual users under the license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Preregistration

This study was preregistered in the PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews, available at https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID = 298179.

Supplemental Data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2023.2283528.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Helse Førde Health Trust.