A matter of perspective - Objective vs Subjective outcomes in assessment of quality of recovery

Publication date: Available online 10 April 2018Source: Best Practice & Research Clinical AnaesthesiologyAuthor(s): Andrea Bowyer, Colin RoyseAbstractCurrent postoperative recovery assessment exists as a dichotomy; maintaining objectivity whilst providing relevance to patient centred care. Both objective and subjective measures are utilised in modern recovery assessment and are best viewed as complimentary. At an institutional and provider level, performance indicators are utilised as surrogates for quality of recovery but do so only if assessed in the clinical context from which they are derived. Patient reported outcomes prioritise the patient’s perspective as being that which is the most important at the time of assessment but are limited by their susceptibility to response shift and recall bias. Ideally, quality of recovery is assessed using objective measures in concert with measures of clinical complexity and in parallel with patient reported outcomes.
Source: Best Practice and Research Clinical Anaesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research