Patient-reported outcome measures in nail diseases: A narrative review

Nail diseases significantly affect the psychological, social, physical and economic aspects of a person’s life, leading to a reduced health-related quality of life (QoL). Health-related QoL measures, also known as patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), capture patients’ perspectives on their health and treatment effectiveness, revealing disease impact that may not be evident on clinical assessment. These tools help identify key patient concerns, guide targeted interventions and support individualised care and treatment monitoring. Disease-specific questionnaires address concerns unique to nail conditions, whereas generic tools provide a broader assessment of overall QoL. Each PROM assesses different aspects of QoL in nail disorders, and selecting an appropriate scale depends on the area of research. Accurate assessment requires consideration of each tool’s psychometric properties, relevance and suitability. This review presents a comprehensive overview of generic and validated, psychometrically evaluated nail-specific PROMs used to assess QoL in patients with nail diseases.