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Development and pilot implementation of a standardised trauma documentation form to inform a national trauma registry in a low-resource setting: lessons from Tanzania.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:Trauma registries are an integral part of a well-organised trauma system. Tanzania, like many low and middle-income countries, does not have a trauma registry. We describe the development, structure, implementation and impact of a context appropriate standardised trauma form based on the adaptation of the WHO Data Set for Injury (DSI), for clinical documentation and use in a national trauma registry. SETTING:Our study was conducted in emergency units of five regional referral hospitals in Tanzania. PROCEDURES:Mixed methods participatory action research was employed. After an assessment of baseline trauma documentation, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposefully selected sample of 33 healthcare providers from all participating hospitals to understand, develop, pilot and implement a standardised trauma form. We compared the number and types of variables captured before and after the form was implemented. OUTCOMES:Change in proportion of variables of DSI captured after implementation of a standardised trauma documentation form. RESULTS:Piloting and feedback informed the development of a context appropriate standardised trauma documentation paper form with carbonless copy that could be used as both the clinical chart and data capture. Among 721 patients (seen by 21 clinicians) during the initial 30-day pilot, overall variable capture was 86.4% of required variables. After modifications of the form and training of healthcare providers, the form was implemented for 7?months, during which the capture improved to 96.3% among 6302 patients (seen by 31 clinicians). The providers reported the form was user-friendly, resulted in less time documenting, and served as a guide to managing trauma patients. CONCLUSIONS:The development and implementation of a contextually appropriate, standardised trauma form were successful, yielding increased capture rates of injury variables. This system will facilitate expansion of the trauma registry across the country and inform similar initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa.

SUBMITTER: Sawe HR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7545631 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Development and pilot implementation of a standardised trauma documentation form to inform a national trauma registry in a low-resource setting: lessons from Tanzania.

Sawe Hendry R HR Reynolds Teri A TA Weber Ellen J EJ Mfinanga Juma A JA Coats Timothy J TJ Wallis Lee A LA

BMJ open 20201008 10

<h4>Objectives</h4>Trauma registries are an integral part of a well-organised trauma system. Tanzania, like many low and middle-income countries, does not have a trauma registry. We describe the development, structure, implementation and impact of a context appropriate standardised trauma form based on the adaptation of the WHO Data Set for Injury (DSI), for clinical documentation and use in a national trauma registry.<h4>Setting</h4>Our study was conducted in emergency units of five regional re ...[more]

PMID: 33033093

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Project description:BackgroundTrauma is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among pediatric and adolescent populations worldwide, with over ninety percent of childhood injuries occurring in low-income and middle-income countries. Lack of region-specific data on pediatric injuries is among the major challenges limiting the ability of health systems to implement interventions to prevent injuries and improve outcomes. We aim to characterize the burden of pediatric health injuries, initial healthcare interventions and outcomes seen in thirteen diverse healthcare facilities in Tanzania.MethodsThis was a prospective cohort study of children aged up to 18 years presenting to emergency units (EUs) of thirteen multi-level health facilities in Tanzania from 1st October 2019 to 30th September 2020. We describe injury patterns, mechanisms and early interventions performed at the emergency units of these health facilities.ResultsAmong 18,553 trauma patients seen in all thirteen-health facilities, 4368 (23.5%) were children, of whom 2894 (66.7%) were male. The overall median age was 8 years (Interquartile range 4-12 years). Fall 1592 (36.5%) and road traffic crash (RTC) 840 (19.2%) were the top mechanisms of injury. Most patients 3748 (85.8%) arrived at EU directly from the injury site, using motorized (two or three) wheeled vehicles 2401 (55%). At EU, 651 (14.9%) were triaged as an emergency category. Multiple superficial injuries (14.4%), fracture of forearm (11.7%) and open wounds (11.1%) were the top EU diagnoses, while 223 (5.2%) had intracranial injuries. Children aged 0-4 years had the highest proportion (16.3%) of burn injuries. Being referred and being triaged as an emergency category were associated with high likelihood of serious injuries with adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 4.18 (95%CI 3.07-5.68) and 2.11 (95%CI 1.75-2.56), respectively. 1095 (25.1%) of patients were admitted to inpatient care, 14 (0.3%) taken to operation theatre, and 25 (0.6%) died in the EU.ConclusionsIn these multilevel health facilities in Tanzania, pediatric injuries accounted for nearly one-quarter of all injuries. Over half of injuries occurred at home. Fall from height was the leading mechanism of injury, followed by RTC. Most patients sustained fractures of extremities. Future studies of pediatric injuries should focus on evaluating various preventive strategies that can be instituted at home to reduce the incidence and associated impact of such injuries.

Project description:BackgroundNumerous trauma scoring systems have been developed in an attempt to accurately and efficiently predict the prognosis of emergent trauma cases. However, it has been questioned as to whether the accuracy and pragmatism of such systems still hold in lower-resource settings that exist in many hospitals in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this study, it was hypothesized that the physiologically-based Revised Trauma Score (RTS), Mechanism/Glasgow Coma Scale/Age/Pressure (MGAP) score, and Glasgow Coma Scale/Age/Pressure (GAP) score would be effective at predicting mortality outcomes using clinical data at presentation in a representative LMIC hospital in Upper Egypt.MethodsThis was a retrospective analysis of the medical records of trauma patients at Beni-Suef University Hospital. Medical records of all trauma patients admitted to the hospital over the 8-month period from January to August 2016 were reviewed. For each case, the RTS, MGAP, and GAP scores were calculated using clinical data at presentation, and mortality prediction was correlated to the actual in-hospital outcome.ResultsThe Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUROC) was calculated to be 0.879, 0.890, and 0.881 for the MGAP, GAP, and RTS respectively, with all three scores showing good discriminatory ability. With regards to prevalence-dependent statistics, all three scores demonstrated efficacy in ruling out mortality upon presentation with negative predictive values > 95%, while the MGAP score best captured the mortality subgroup with a sensitivity of 94%. Adjustment of cutoff scores showed a steep trade-off between optimizing the positive predictive values versus the sensitivities.ConclusionThe RTS, MGAP, and GAP all showed good discriminatory capabilities per AUROC. Given the relative simplicity and potentially added clinical benefit in capturing critically ill patients, the MGAP score should be further studied for stratifying risk of incoming trauma patients to the emergency department, allowing for more efficacious triage of patients in lower-resource healthcare settings.

Project description:Background:Data about injury patterns and clinical outcomes are essential to address the burden of injury in low- and middle-income countries. Institutional trauma registries (ITRs) are a key tool for collecting epidemiologic data about injury. This study uses ITR data to describe the demographics and patterns of injury of trauma patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in order to identify opportunities for injury prevention, systems strengthening and further research. Methods:This is an analysis of prospectively collected data from a sustainable ITR at Menelik II Specialized Hospital, a public teaching hospital with trauma expertise. All patients presenting to the hospital with serious injuries requiring intervention or admission over a 13 month period were included. Univariable and bivariable analyses were performed for patient demographics and injury characteristics. Results:A total of 854 patients with serious injuries were treated during the study period. Median age was 33 years and 74% were male. The most common mechanisms of injury were road traffic injuries (RTI) (37%), falls (30%) and blunt assault (17%). Over half of RTI victims were pedestrians. Median delay in presentation was 2 h; 17% of patients presented over 6 h after injury. 58% of patients were referred from another hospital or a clinic, and referrals accounted for 84% of patients arriving by ambulance. Median emergency center length of stay was 2 h and 62% of patients were discharged from the emergency center. Conclusion:This study highlights the utility of institutional trauma registries in collecting crucial injury surveillance data. In Addis Ababa, road safety is an important target for injury prevention. Our findings suggest that the most severely injured patients may not be making it to the referral centers with the capacity to treat their injuries, thus efforts to improve prehospital care and triage are needed. African relevance:Injury is a public health priority in Africa. Institutional trauma registries play a crucial role in efforts to improve trauma care by describing injury epidemiology to identify targets for injury prevention and systems strengthening efforts. In our context, pedestrian safety is a key target for injury prevention. Improving prehospital care and developing referral networks are goals for systems strengthening.

Dataset Information

Development and pilot implementation of a standardised trauma documentation form to inform a national trauma registry in a low-resource setting: lessons from Tanzania.

Publications

Development and pilot implementation of a standardised trauma documentation form to inform a national trauma registry in a low-resource setting: lessons from Tanzania.

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