A delphi procedure on rehabilitation outcome for patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury; first phase of the Neurotraumatology Quality Registry (NET-QURE).
Lianne D Peppel, Majanka H Heijenbrok-Kal, Thomas A Van Essen and 3 others
PMID 34755195WHAT IT FOUND
Experts agreed on specific outcome measures for 12 of 17 domains in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.
Consensus was reached for tools assessing quality of life, pain, anxiety, depression, communication, and activities of daily living.
Key findings
01Consensus was reached for 12 of 17 outcome categories, including quality of life, pain, anxiety, depression, general psychological functioning, communication, personal factors, activities of daily living, participation, self-awareness, and aphasia.
02No consensus was reached for physical functioning, cognitive functioning, comorbidity, fatigue, or employment status.
03The first-choice instrument was also the most familiar instrument to experts in 91% of the categories.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Detailed psychometric information about the listed outcome measures was not provided to participants, which may have influenced choices based on familiarity rather than evidence of quality. Respondents were not randomly selected, introducing potential selection bias. The study focused only on first-choice instruments, ignoring second-choice preferences that might offer useful alternatives. No consensus was reached for five key domains, including physical and cognitive functioning, leaving uncertainty about the best measures for these areas.
Declared interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of consensus on physical and cognitive functioning as evidence that no good measures exist. It reflects that the expert group could not agree on a single preferred instrument or combination within the constraints of this specific Delphi procedure.