What are PROMs?
Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) are short questionnaires that ask you directly about your symptoms, function, and quality of life. Rather than relying solely on clinical examination, they capture how you actually feel and what you can do in your daily life.
PROMs are widely used across medicine, and are particularly valuable in Trauma and Orthopaedics. By collecting this information at regular intervals before and after treatment, we can track your progress over time and ensure your care is working for you.
Knee pain and knee replacement patients
For patients under Mr Davies' care with knee problems, particularly arthritis, we use a questionnaire called the Oxford Knee Score. It asks 12 straightforward questions about your knee, with five possible answers each, and produces a score out of 48.
A single score in isolation is not the most informative thing; what matters is how your score changes over time. After a knee replacement, for example, we would expect scores to improve steadily as pain reduces and your mobility returns through rehabilitation. Scores are individual to you and are not compared between patients.
Knee ligament injuries and reconstruction patients
Mr Davies submits all knee ligament reconstruction data to the National Ligament Registry (NLR), a secure online database designed by UK knee surgeons to monitor surgical outcomes and patient recovery. Visit www.uknlr.co.uk for more about the registry, and for excellent patient information about ligament injuries.
The NLR uses specific, validated PROM questionnaires to follow patients before their operation and at regular intervals afterwards. Questionnaires are sent by email to make completion as convenient as possible.
KOOS Score The Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score measures pain, symptoms, function in daily living, sport and recreation, and quality of life. It is useful for tracking changes in knee health with or without treatment.
Lysholm / Tegner Activity Score The Lysholm score (out of 100) examines knee-specific symptoms including instability, pain, swelling, locking, stair climbing, and squatting. The Tegner Activity Scale rates activity levels across work and sport on a scale of 0 (disability due to knee problems) to 10 (national or international competition level).
IKDC Score The International Knee Documentation Committee questionnaire provides an overall knee function score based on three areas: symptoms (pain, stiffness, swelling, and giving way), sports activity, and day-to-day function.
EQ-5D (General Health Score) A standardised general health questionnaire used in population surveys and clinical research worldwide. It allows your overall wellbeing to be assessed alongside your knee-specific scores, giving a fuller picture of your recovery.
Why completing your questionnaires matters
Your responses are genuinely important. As data accumulates over time, patterns emerge that can reveal both the benefits and any limitations of current treatments. This guides further research and ultimately improves care for future patients facing the same conditions.
The more patients who complete their questionnaires, the more meaningful and reliable the findings. Every response contributes to a larger picture of what good outcomes look like after knee surgery.
Please return your completed forms to Debbie Rollason, who manages Mr Davies' practice and coordinates all patient data. If you have any questions about the process, she is happy to help.
