Prognosis research strategy (PROGRESS) 1: A framework for researching clinical outcomes

open access

Summary points

• The PROGRESS series (www.progress-partnership.org) sets out a framework of four interlinked prognosis research themes and provides examples from several disease fields to show why evidence from prognosis research is crucial to inform all points in the translation of biomedical and health related research into better patient outcomes. Recommendations are made in each of the four papers to improve current research standards
• What is prognosis research? Prognosis research seeks to understand and improve future outcomes in people with a given disease or health condition. However, there is increasing evidence that prognosis research standards need to be improved
• Why is prognosis research important? More people now live with disease and conditions that impair health than at any other time in history; prognosis research provides crucial evidence for translating findings from the laboratory to humans, and from clinical research to clinical practice
• This first article introduces the framework of four interlinked prognosis research themes and then focuses on the first of the themes—fundamental prognosis research, studies that aim to describe and explain future outcomes in relation to current diagnostic and treatment practices, often in relation to quality of care
• Fundamental prognosis research provides evidence informing healthcare and public health policy, the design and interpretation of randomised trials, and the impact of diagnostic tests on future outcome. It can inform new definitions of disease, may identify unanticipated benefits or harms of interventions, and clarify where new interventions are required to improve prognosis
• The other papers in the series are:
  • PROGRESS 2: PLoS Med 2013, doi:10.1371.journal/pmed.1001380
  • PROGRESS 3: PLoS Med 2013, doi:10.1371.journal/pmed.1001381
  • PROGRESS 4: BMJ 2013, doi:10.1136/bmj.e5793