Identification of Clinical and Patient Reported Outcomes for Patients with Intact Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Not Undergoing Repair: A Systematic Review.

Objective: Current literature on abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) is characterised by heterogeneous outcome reporting and lack of standardisation. Thus, a core outcome set (COS) for patients with intact AAA not undergoing repair is being developed. The disease course in these patients is uncertain; some may progress, necessitating surgery, while others may remain stable over time. Therefore, both outcomes following conservative therapy and post-operative outcomes are important in research on AAA not undergoing repair. A systematic review identifying clinical and patient reported AAA related outcomes was conducted.

Data sources: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Web of Science were systematically searched from 1 January 2020 until 24 November 2023.

Review methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement was adhered to. The study protocol was pre-registered in the PROSPERO registry (CRD42023478594) and Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) database (study no. 2856). All studies on clinical and or patient reported outcomes on all types of AAA, including those on AAA not undergoing repair and post-operative AAA, from 2020 onwards were included. Abstract and full text screening was performed by three independent authors. Outcomes and their definitions were extracted verbatim from each article. Each outcome was harmonised into an agreed outcome term based on similarities in definitions. Agreed outcome terms were categorised into domains according to the Dodd taxonomy.

Results: Of the 5 611 articles identified through the literature search, 612 full texts were screened for eligibility and 380 studies were included. A total of 264 unique outcomes were identified. The most frequently reported outcomes were death (n = 341), myocardial infarction (n = 148), and re-intervention (n = 145). After classification into agreed outcome terms, the final longlist comprised 77 AAA outcomes.

Conclusion: The definitive 77 item AAA outcome longlist will be used in a Delphi study to create a COS for research on intact AAA not undergoing repair.