Editorial Commentary: Patient-Reported Outcome Measures With Established Clinically Important Outcome Values Should Be Used for Hip Arthroscopy Patients: Sifting Through the White Noise

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) are widely used after hip arthroscopy to track postoperative outcomes. With the number of hip arthroscopies performed each year continuing to rise in the United States, it is important to understand which specific PROM is appropriate for use in clinical practice. Clinically important outcome values (CIOVs), including minimal clinically important difference (MCID), patient-acceptable symptom state (PASS), and substantial clinical benefit values, must be determined to allow for score interpretation. Many of the commonly used PROM in hip arthroscopy have CIOVs supporting their use for hip arthroscopy. The selection of an appropriate PROM allows for useful score interpretation at a single time point, as well as changes in score over time, while avoiding response burden to the patient. While the question of “Which PROM should I use?” remains unclear, CIOVs values have been established for the Nonarthritic Hip Score, modified Harris hip score, Hip Outcome Score, and International Hip Outcome Tool. We believe the advantages of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) may outweigh those of the legacy instruments, but future research will be needed to psychometrically prove this!