Term: Clinical Outcome Assessment (COA)

a measure used to evaluate a patient’s health status or a clinical outcome. These assessments capture how a patient feels, functions, or survives and may be reported directly by the patient, a clinician, a non-clinician observer, or through a performance-based test. There are four main types of COAs:

1. Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO): Information provided directly by the patient.
2. Clinician-Reported Outcome (ClinRO): Assessments made by a healthcare professional.
3. Observer-Reported Outcome (ObsRO): Reports from someone other than the patient or clinician, such as a caregiver.
4. Performance Outcome (PerfO): Assessments based on standardized tasks completed by the patient.

COAs are essential for understanding treatment benefits from the perspectives of both patients and healthcare professionals.