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. 2022 Sep 1;93(3):367-375.
doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003665. Epub 2022 May 12.

Developing a National Trauma Research Action Plan: Results from the injury prevention research gap Delphi survey

Zara Cooper  1 , Juan P Herrera-Escobar, Jimmy Phuong, Maxwell A Braverman, Stephanie Bonne, Mary Margaret Knudson, Frederick P Rivara, Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Michelle A Price, Eileen M Bulger; NTRAP Injury Prevention Panel
Collaborators, Affiliations

Developing a National Trauma Research Action Plan: Results from the injury prevention research gap Delphi survey

Zara Cooper et al. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. .

Abstract

Background: In its 2016 report on trauma care, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine called for the establishment of a National Trauma Research Action Plan to strengthen and guide future trauma research. To address this recommendation, the Department of Defense funded the Coalition for National Trauma Research to generate a comprehensive research agenda spanning the continuum of trauma and burn care. We describe the gap analysis and high priority research questions generated from the National Trauma Research Action Plan panel on injury prevention.

Methods: Experts in injury prevention research were recruited to identify current gaps in injury prevention research, generate research questions and establish the priority of these questions using a consensus-driven Delphi survey approach from December 2019 through September 2020. Participants were identified using established Delphi recruitment guidelines to ensure heterogeneity and generalizability with both military and civilian representatives. Participants were encouraged, but not required, to use a Patient/Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome format to generate research questions: Patient/Population; Intervention; Compare/Control; Outcome model. On subsequent surveys, participants were asked to rank the priority of each research question on a nine-point Likert scale, categorized to represent low-, medium-, and high-priority items. Consensus was defined as 60% or greater of panelists agreeing on the priority category.

Results: Twenty-eight subject matter experts generated 394 questions in 12 topic areas. By round 3 of the Delphi, 367 (93.1%) questions reached consensus, of which 169 (46.1%) were determined to be high priority, 196 (53.4%) medium priority, and 2 (0.5%) low priority. Among the 169 high priority questions, suicide (29.6%), firearm violence (20.1%), and violence prevention (18.3%) were the most prevalent topic areas.

Conclusion: This Delphi gap analysis of injury prevention research identified 169 high priority research questions that will help guide investigators in future injury prevention research. Funding agencies and researchers should consider these gaps when they prioritize future research.

Level of evidence: Therepeutic/Care Management; Level IV.

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References

    1. Coalition for National Trauma Research. Trauma Statistics & Facts2015. Available at: https://www.nattrauma.org/trauma-statistics-facts/ . Accessed November 15, 2021.
    1. Peterson C, Miller GF, Barnett SBL, Florence C. Economic cost of injury—United States, 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep . 2021;70:1655–1659.
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. National action plan for child injury prevention. An agenda to prevent injuries and promote the safety of children and adolescents in the United States. 2012.
    1. National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine. A National Trauma Care System: Integrating Military and Civilian Trauma Systems to Achieve Zero Preventable Deaths After Injury . Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2016.
    1. Institute of Medicine, Committee on Trauma and Committee on Shock, Division of Medical Sciences. Accidental death and disability: the neglected disease of modern society . Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council; 1966.

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