Compare Measurement Systems

• Self- and parent-reported measures of physical, mental, and social health.
• Created to be relevant across all health conditions and the general population for assessing symptoms and functions.
• Available in multiple formats (e.g., computer adaptive tests, short forms).
• Integrated into diverse administration platforms.
• Appropriate for use in diverse research and clinical practice settings.
• Translated into many languages.

• Developed and validated for common neurological conditions.
• Self- and parent-reported measures of physical, mental, and social health.
• Available in multiple formats (e.g., computer adaptive tests, short forms).
• Integrated into diverse administration platforms.
• Appropriate for use in diverse research and clinical practice settings.
• Translated into many languages.

• Developed and validated for adults with sickle cell disease.
• Self-report measures of physical, mental, and social health.
• Available in multiple formats (e.g., computer adaptive tests, short forms).
• Integrated into diverse administration platforms.
• Appropriate for use in diverse research and clinical practice settings.

• Two types of measures:
  • Neuro-behavioral performance tests of cognitive, sensory, and motor function.
  • Self- and parent-report measures of emotional health.
• Well-suited for measuring outcomes in longitudinal studies (ages 3-85).
• Scores comparable to the U.S. general population by age.
• Translated into many languages.

Some NIH Toolbox version 3.0 measures are identical to PROMIS measures assessing the same domain. Specifically, the following pairs are the same:

• NIH Toolbox Anger FF Ages 8-17 v3.0 and PROMIS Pediatric Scale GenPop v3.0 – Anger 9a.
• NIH Toolbox Fear/Anxiety CAT Ages 8-17 v3.0 and PROMIS Pediatric Bank GenPop v3.0 – Anxiety.
• NIH Toolbox Meaning and Purpose CAT Ages 18+ v3.0 and PROMIS Bank v1.0 – Meaning and Purpose.
• NIH Toolbox Sadness/Depression CAT Ages 8-17 v3.0 and PROMIS Pediatric Bank GenPop v3.0 – Depressive Symptoms.
• NIH Toolbox Self-Efficacy CAT Ages 18+ v3.0 and PROMIS Bank v1.0 – General Self-Efficacy.

Great question! The answer is dependent on who will be completing the measure.

• PROMIS (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System)
  • Designed for measuring physical, mental, and social health across a wide range of populations and conditions.
  • PROMIS is the best choice for general health assessment.
  • In most cases, you should use a PROMIS measure.

• Neuro-QoL (Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders)
  • Specifically developed to assess health-related quality of life for individuals with neurological conditions.
  • If you are working with people with a neurological condition, for some domains (e.g., anxiety) you have the option of using Neuro-QoL or PROMIS.
    • If you want a measure developed specifically for neurological populations, use Neuro-QoL.
    • If you want to be able to compare scores to a wide range of chronic conditions, use PROMIS.
    • If you are trying to coordinate assessment content across multiple health conditions that include non-neurological conditions, use PROMIS.
    • If you want a screen-to-CAT measure, use PROMIS.
    • You can also add PROMIS measures for domains that aren’t covered in Neuro-QoL.

• NIH Toolbox
  • Use NIH Toolbox measures if a) there isn’t a PROMIS measure available or b) you are using NIH Toolbox performance-based tests in the NIH Toolbox iPad app.
  • Additional performance-based tests of cognition, sensation, and motor functions are available at NIHToolbox.org.

• ASCQ-Me (Adult Sickle Cell Quality of Life Measurement Information System)
  • Designed specifically for assessing quality of life in adults living with sickle cell disease.
  • If you are working with people with sickle cell disease, start with PROMIS measures for universal symptoms and functions (e.g., fatigue) and add ASCQ-Me measures for specific sickle cell content (e.g., stiffness impact).

Sometimes there is a PROMIS measure for a given domain (e.g., PROMIS Depression) and a Neuro-QoL measure for the same domain (e.g., Neuro-QoL Depression). Both produce T-scores. However, you cannot directly compare PROMIS and Neuro-QoL scores. PROMIS and Neuro-QoL are on different metrics.

If you want to compare or combine scores, you can use PROsetta Stone tables to convert scores from Neuro-QoL to the PROMIS metric. When Neuro-QoL scores are converted to PROMIS scores, you can then make comparisons between them.