Concept Mapping as a Scalable Method for Identifying Patient-Important Outcomes [Methods Study], Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2015-2020 (ICPSR 39640)
Research that focuses on what's most important to patients can inform health decisions. Researchers use different methods to identify what's most important to patients.
In this study, the research team compared two methods for identifying what's most important to patients: one-on-one interviews and group concept mapping, or GCM. GCM is a three-round process that helps researchers get input from a group. In the first round, people brainstorm topics that are important to them. Next, people sort the topics into clusters based on similar ideas. Finally, researchers create a map to display and discuss the topics. Researchers can use the complete GCM process or the brainstorming round only.
The research team looked at one-on-one interviews versus GCM and compared the number of topics patients named and the amount of time and money required.