Publishing its methodology in TSACO today, the National Trauma Research Action Plan (NTRAP) research team conducted a comprehensive scoping review to evaluate the current evidence related to how long-term outcomes of trauma patients, such as impaired physical and mental functioning and reintegration into society, are measured.
Led by Juan Pablo Herrera-Escobar, MD, MPH and Adil Haider, MD, MPH at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the team conducted a systematic search of research databases using terms related to long-term physical, mental, cognitive, and quality of life outcomes. Organized into four domains—mental health, physical health, cognitive function, and social functioning—the synthesized results of the scoping review are being evaluated by a Delphi panel of experts, trauma patients and caregivers. Relevant patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) will be identified for those outcomes deemed most important by the panel, with the end goal to provide recommendations on a proposed list of PROMs to be included in trauma registries.
“Determining which PROMs should be used to track the recovery of trauma patients is a key piece before we implement long-term trauma outcome registries in the United States,” explained Dr. Herrera-Escobar.
The NTRAP project, funded by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (W81XWH-18-C-0179) and managed by the Coalition for National Trauma Research (CNTR), is a response to a 2016 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report calling for the development of trauma research plan that spans the continuum of care from the point of injury through rehabilitation. The three primary aims of that project, now in its second year, are to perform a gap analysis of both military and civilian trauma research to identify priorities across the continuum of care; to define optimal metrics to assess long-term functional outcomes in injured patients; and to identify trauma research regulatory barriers.
