Establishment of a core outcome set for burn care research: development and international consensus

Amber Young; Anna Davies; Carmen Tsang; Jamie Kirkham; Tom Potokar; Nicole Gibran; Zephanie Tyack; Jill Meirte; Teruichi Harada; Baljit Dheansa; Jo Dumville; Chris Metcalfe; Rajeev Ahuja; Fiona Wood; Sarah Gaskell; Sara Brookes; Sarah Smailes; Marc Jeschke; Murat Ali Cinar; Nukhba Zia; Amr Moghazy; Jonathan Mathers; Sian Falder; Dale Edgar; Jane Mary Blazeby

doi:10.1136/bmjmed-2022-000183

Establishment of a core outcome set for burn care research: development and international consensus

BMJ Med. 2022 Jul 7;1(1):e000183. doi: 10.1136/bmjmed-2022-000183. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Amber Young¹, Anna Davies¹, Carmen Tsang¹, Jamie Kirkham², Tom Potokar³, Nicole Gibran⁴, Zephanie Tyack⁵, Jill Meirte⁶, Teruichi Harada⁷, Baljit Dheansa⁸, Jo Dumville^{2

9}, Chris Metcalfe¹⁰, Rajeev Ahuja¹¹, Fiona Wood¹², Sarah Gaskell¹³, Sara Brookes¹⁴, Sarah Smailes¹⁵, Marc Jeschke¹⁶, Murat Ali Cinar¹⁷, Nukhba Zia¹⁸, Amr Moghazy¹⁹, Jonathan Mathers²⁰, Sian Falder²¹, Dale Edgar²², Jane Mary Blazeby¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Surgical Research, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
² Division of Population Health, Health Services Research & Primary Care, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
³ Centre for Global Burn Injury Policy and Research, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
⁴ UW Medicine Regional Burn Center, Harborview Medical Center, UW Department of Surgery, University of Washington (UW), Seattle, WA, USA.
⁵ Child Health Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁶ Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerpen, Belgium.
⁷ Seitokai Medical and Social Welfare Corporation, Teramoto Memorial Hospital, Kawachinagano, Osaka, Japan.
⁸ Department of plastic surgery and burns, Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, UK.
⁹ Division of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
¹⁰ Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
¹¹ Department of Burns & Plastic Surgery, Lok Nayak Hospital and Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India.
¹² Burn service, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
¹³ Paediatric Psychosocial Service, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester, UK.
¹⁴ Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
¹⁵ Department of physiontherapy, Broomfield Hospital, Mid Essex Hospitals, Chelmsford, UK.
¹⁶ Department of Surgery and Plastic Surgery, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁷ Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey.
¹⁸ Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹⁹ Department of plastic surgery, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.
²⁰ Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
²¹ Department of plastic surgery, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK.
²² Adult Burns Unit, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, WA, Australia.

Abstract

Objective: To develop a core outcome set for international burn research.

Design: Development and international consensus, from April 2017 to November 2019.

Methods: Candidate outcomes were identified from systematic reviews and stakeholder interviews. Through a Delphi survey, international clinicians, researchers, and UK patients prioritised outcomes. Anonymised feedback aimed to achieve consensus. Pre-defined criteria for retaining outcomes were agreed. A consensus meeting with voting was held to finalise the core outcome set.

Results: Data source examination identified 1021 unique outcomes grouped into 88 candidate outcomes. Stakeholders in round 1 of the survey, included 668 health professionals from 77 countries (18% from low or low middle income countries) and 126 UK patients or carers. After round 1, one outcome was discarded, and 13 new outcomes added. After round 2, 69 items were discarded, leaving 31 outcomes for the consensus meeting. Outcome merging and voting, in two rounds, with prespecified thresholds agreed seven core outcomes: death, specified complications, ability to do daily tasks, wound healing, neuropathic pain and itch, psychological wellbeing, and return to school or work.

Conclusions: This core outcome set caters for global burn research, and future trials are recommended to include measures of these outcomes.

Keywords: Qualitative research; Quality of health care; Specialties, surgical; Surgery, plastic; Wounds and injuries.

Associated data

Dryad/10.5061/dryad.79cnp5htr

Grants and funding

MR/K025643/1/MRC_/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom