Exploring International Views on Key Concepts for Mass-gathering Health through a Delphi Process

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Disaster Medicine
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Mass-gathering health (MGH) science is rapidly evolving, but inconsistent terminology and concepts hinder evidence-base development.
• Standardizing concepts and data points is crucial for governments, event planners, responders, and researchers.
• A transnational minimum data set (MDS) and data dictionary (DD) are needed to support MGH.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore international expert views on previously published MGH concepts.
• To seek consensus on key MGH concepts to inform the development of a transnational MDS and DD.
• To identify areas requiring further refinement for MGH data standardization.

Main Methods:

• A two-round Delphi process involving international MGH experts.
• Participants included volunteers from the WHO Virtual Interdisciplinary Advisory Group (VIAG) and the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM).
• Surveys assessed agreement on MGH terminology, purposes of MDS/DD, event phases, population models, conceptual diagram, and data matrix.

Main Results:

• Substantial agreement (≥80%) was reached on the term "MGH," the purposes of the MDS, two MG population models, and event phases.
• Consensus was not achieved on the overall MGH conceptual diagram (67%) and the proposed data matrix (77%).
• Round 2 showed agreement on revised principles, except for the MGH diagram (75% agreement).

Conclusions:

• International experts demonstrate substantial agreement on core MGH concepts.
• Standardization of MGH data points and reporting is essential for building a robust evidence-base.
• Further refinement of the conceptual MGH diagram and data matrix is necessary for effective MGH data organization.