{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.021669341894060994, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 4.909952606635071, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Poems by children as patient‐reported outcomes

Clinicians want to know that they have met the Hippocratic imperative ‘first, do no harm’ and indeed to have exceeded this. Consequently, there is a need to evaluate outcomes of interventions. Intervention outcomes are the basis for continued approval by patient, employer, or state, which in turn may determine personal fortunes, health budgets, and policies. These outcomes have become commodified by health services and in many instances are reflections of extremes such as death or process measures such as waiting times. When the patient is a child their voice is less likely to be heard. Two poems written by children who have experienced protracted illnesses are presented. These poems – an act of spontaneity by each child – may be considered as expressing more about their outcome than any formal measure alone. One describes recovery and recognizes the wonders of an altered mental state, even if pathological. The second is an assertion of participation, a measure of how illness impacts on life. These poems tell a bigger story than mere measurement alone. They raise questions about how clinicians learn from and represent these child-authored accounts, which we would do well to heed.