05 December 2018, Tim Burton with Hrishi Joshi
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Mr Hrishi Joshi is working on a new patient reported outcome measure (PROM) that will help us understand the impact of stone disease and treatments on the patient’s health related quality of life and change the way kidney stone patients and their doctors make decisions about how they should be treated.
Consultant urologist, Mr Hrishi Joshi, is using funding from The Urology Foundation to develop a new questionnaire known as a USIQoL (Urinary Symptoms and Intervention Quality of Life) that urologists can use with kidney stone patients. The PROM has been developed after three years of PhD research and qualitative research and is currently undergoing validation through field validation and statistical analysis.
In Hrishi’s own words,
“This PROM is designed to give urologists an holistic understanding of how kidney stone treatment is impacting their patients. Instead of just assessing a few basic indicators, this PROM looks at various domains - such as pain and physical symptoms, along with how kidney stones effect a person’s mental health, the impact on a patient’s social life, their family, and how often they have to seek medical care.
“Because a lot of kidney stone patients are also reaching the pinnacle of their careers, this tool will also look at the impact of kidney stones on a person’s work life, and their finances.”
“This PROM will allow a urologist and their patient to assess what kidney stone treatment has meant for the patient’s whole life . It should enable the patient to become an active part of their treatment decision making process. It will make treatment much more patient-centric.”
Hrishi’s PROM could also prove a significant boon for researchers of kidney stones by providing them with a substantial source of new data so that they can focus their research on the treatments that are proving most effective for a patient.
It’s currently going through validation through use on around 300 patients. Hrishi hopes that in around 6 months this tool will be available in daily clinical practice across the country.
