Piloting the use of global health measures in a Down syndrome clinic

Purpose: People with Down syndrome (DS) have a unique medical profile which may impact views of health. We aimed to explore the use of global health measures in DS.

Methods: Prospective survey in the Mass General Hospital Down Syndrome Program (MGH DSP) from December 2018 to July 2019 with Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)® instruments of global health. Analyses included use of scoring manuals, descriptive statistics and dependent samples t test.

Results: Seventeen adolescents, 48 adults with DS and 88 caregivers returned surveys; 137 were complete. Incomplete responses and notes showed limitations of the instruments in this population. Global health T-scores did not differ from the available comparative standardized scores to these measures from PROMIS® reference population (p > 0.05).

Conclusions: In the MGH DSP, pilot global health instruments were completed by some adults with DS and caregivers, with some limitations and scores similar to the PROMIS® reference population.