Reflections From ISOQOL Conference 2024

By Greta Marie van Schoor, PhD

The 31st Annual ISOQOL Conference showcased transformative advancements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) research, emphasizing the integration of electronic clinical outcome assessments (eCOAs), patient-reported outcomes (PROs), and digital health innovations in clinical trials. A key focus was optimizing eCOA deployment through improved flexibility, accessibility, and collaboration among stakeholders. Early communication and evidence-driven implementation emerged as critical success factors.

PROs are reshaping clinical practice, particularly in oncology, by enhancing remote symptom monitoring, adverse event management, and real-world data integration into electronic health records. Flexible PRO measurement approaches, including the FDA-recommended modular framework, were highlighted, with studies validating the independent use of subscales to better evaluate patient outcomes in cancer trials. Digital health measures, combining eCOA and sensor-based data, enable continuous, comprehensive data collection, improving insights into patient experiences. However, standardization challenges and terminology inconsistencies require early engagement with patients and regulators to ensure meaningful implementation. Artificial intelligence (AI) were also a large topic of discussion, due to how this technology is revolutionizing HRQOL research by analyzing unstructured PRO data, refining ambiguous scores, and facilitating early disease detection. AI’s potential to enhance data collection and interpretation underscores its role in advancing clinical research and patient-centered care.