Developing templates for uniform data documentation and reporting in critical care using a modified nominal group...

Area of Science:

• Trauma and Critical Care Medicine
• Health Informatics
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• Clinical practice in trauma and critical care often relies on retrospective data, introducing bias and limiting systematic reviews.
• Standardized documentation and reporting templates can improve data quality and facilitate large-scale international studies.
• Multidisciplinary expert consensus is a viable method for developing such templates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present three consensus processes for developing templates for documenting and scientifically reporting trauma and critical care data.
• To discuss the advantages, limitations, and potential improvements of the consensus methodology used.

Main Methods:

• A modified nominal group technique (NGT), combining Delphi and traditional NGT methods in a four-step process, was used for template development.
• Expert panels were convened to reach consensus on template content.

Main Results:

• Standardized templates were successfully developed for major trauma, pre-hospital advanced airway management, and physician-staffed emergency medical services (EMS).
• All developed templates were published in scientific journals, ensuring broad dissemination.

Conclusions:

• The modified NGT consensus method is effective for establishing trauma and critical care data reporting templates.
• Feasibility, reliability, and validity testing are recommended post-consensus to ensure the practical utility of the developed templates.