Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về y học được đăng trên tạp chí y học Critical Care giúp cho các bạn có thêm kiến thức về ngành y học đề tài: Standardisation of data collection in traumatic brain injury: key to the future? | Available online http content 13 6 1016 Commentary Standardisation of data collection in traumatic brain injury key to the future Andrew IR Maas Department of Neurosurgery University Hospital Antwerp Wilrijkstraat 10 2650 Edegem Belgium Corresponding author Andrew IR Maas Published 16 December 2009 This article is online at http content 13 6 1016 2009 BioMed Central Ltd Critical Care 2009 13 1016 doi cc8163 Abstract Great variability exists in data collection and coding of variables in studies on traumatic brain injury TBI . This confounds comparison of results and analysis of data across studies. The difficulties in performing a meta-analysis of individual patient data were recently illustrated in the IMPACT project International Mission on Prognosis and Clinical Trial Design in TBI merging data from 11 studies involved over 10 person years of work. However these studies did confirm the great potential for advancing the field by this approach. Although randomized controlled trials remain the prime approach for investigating treatment effects these can never address the many uncertainties concerning multiple treatment modalities in TBI. Pooling data from different studies may provide the best possible source of evidence we can get in a cost efficient way. Standardisation of data collection and coding is essential to this purpose. Recommendations hereto have been proposed by an interagency initiative in the US. These proposals deserve to be taken forward at an international level. This initiative may well constitute one of the most important steps forwards paving the road for harvesting successful results in the near future. Traumatic brain injury TBI is a field in medicine with one of the greatest unmet needs 1 . Severe injuries constitute a leading cause of death and disability worldwide with devastating effects on patients and their relatives and high socioeconomic costs. TBI is a heterogeneous disease in terms .
