Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40024986›Full record

SynthesisQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2025

A systematic review of outcome measurement instruments used in pouch anal and vaginal fistulae: a COSMIN-based analysis.

Easan Anand, Shivani Joshi, Lillian Reza, Kapil Sahnan, Phillip Lung, Ailsa Hart, Phil Tozer

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Capturing quality of life in pouch anal and vaginal fistula: development of PAVF-QoL-14, a patient-reported outcome measure.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Easan AnandSt Mark's the National Bowel Hospital, Acton Lane, London, UK. era24@ic.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0852-5931
Shivani JoshiSt Mark's the National Bowel Hospital, Acton Lane, London, UK.
Lillian RezaSt Mark's the National Bowel Hospital, Acton Lane, London, UK.
Kapil SahnanSt Mark's the National Bowel Hospital, Acton Lane, London, UK.
Phillip LungSt Mark's the National Bowel Hospital, Acton Lane, London, UK.
Ailsa HartSt Mark's the National Bowel Hospital, Acton Lane, London, UK.
Phil TozerSt Mark's the National Bowel Hospital, Acton Lane, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePouch-related fistulae are devastating complications of ileoanal pouch surgery, which is performed to improve the quality of life (QoL) for patients who have had a proctocolectomy. Their management is limited by inconsistent evidence, including using poorly and heterogeneously defined outcomes. This study aims to identify all Outcome Measurement Instruments (OMIs) used in pouch fistula research, including Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Clinician-Reported Outcome Measures (ClinROMs) and evaluate their quality using COSMIN guidelines to help select the best tool for a standardised core outcome measurement set in a future consensus study.

methodsA systematic review was conducted to identify all OMIs used in ileo-anal pouch fistulae studies, from MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. We evaluated existing OMIs based on COSMIN guidelines and used the GRADE approach to assess evidence quality. Results were synthesized narratively.

resultsAmong 91 studies, 13 OMIs were reviewed. Pouch-specific instruments performed poorly in key domains of reliability, validity, and responsiveness. Only 17.6% of studies assessed QoL using PROMs. The best-performing instruments were the SF-36 and IBDQ. The Ileoanal Pouch Syndrome Severity Score was the only pouch-specific instrument that involved patients in its development and although useful for pouch dysfunction, it lacks specific QoL assessment and was not validated in pouch-fistulae patients.

conclusionExisting OMIs for pouch-related fistulae lack adequate measurement properties, with no PROMs specifically validated for QoL in this population and very few instruments involving patients in their development. There is an unmet need for a validated PROM specifically for QoL in pouch-related fistulae.

Indexed as

Colonic PouchesOutcome Assessment, Health CarePatient Reported Outcome MeasuresProctocolectomy, RestorativeQuality of LifeRectal FistulaVaginal FistulaFemaleHumansMaleReproducibility of ResultsCOSMINPatient reported outcome measuresPouch anal fistulaPouch FistulaPouch vaginal fistula

Identifiers

PMID40024986
PMCPMC12119747

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.