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Common Data Elements: Critical Assessment of Harmonization between Current Multi-Center Traumatic Brain Injury
Sacha Meeuws1, John K Yue2, Jilske A Huijben3
1Department of Neurological Surgery, Antwerp University Hospital and University of Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium.
Journal of Neurotrauma
|February 1, 2020
Summary
Standardizing data collection through Traumatic Brain Injury Common Data Elements (TBI-CDEs) significantly improves meta-analyses. Harmonization across major TBI studies like CENTER-TBI and TRACK-TBI shows high agreement, enabling future research collaborations.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience and Clinical Research
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) research
- Data Science and Health Informatics
Background:
- Standardization of data collection is crucial for robust meta-analyses in traumatic brain injury (TBI) research.
- Previous versions of Traumatic Brain Injury Common Data Elements (TBI-CDEs) aimed to facilitate this standardization.
- TBI-CDEs version 2 (2012) expanded the scope to encompass all ages, injury severities, and recovery phases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the harmonization level of TBI data elements across three large, prospective, multi-center studies within the International Initiative for TBI Research (InTBIR).
- To assess the alignment of study variables with the TBI-CDEs version 2, focusing on 'Acute Hospitalized' (AH) and 'Rehabilitation' (Rehab) domains.
- To identify gaps in global applicability and inform future refinements of TBI-CDEs for international standardization.
Main Methods:
- Data variables from CENTER-TBI, TRACK-TBI, and ADAPT studies were indexed and matched against TBI-CDEs version 2.
- Analysis focused on 'Core', 'Basic' AH, and 'Basic Rehab' CDE levels, with merging of closely related or redundant elements.
- Agreement percentages were calculated for study CDEs against TBI-CDEs, and harmonization overlap was determined between studies.
Main Results:
- A significant proportion of TBI-CDEs were harmonizable: 21 Core, 46 Basic AH, and 50 Basic Rehab elements.
- High agreement rates were observed: CENTER-TBI (81-91%), TRACK-TBI (76-94%), and ADAPT (85% AH, 71% Rehab) with TBI-CDEs.
- Harmonization was greatest between CENTER-TBI and TRACK-TBI (81-87% overlap); non-harmonization was primarily due to data absence.
Conclusions:
- The high degree of harmonization validates the utility of TBI-CDEs and supports the potential for future meta-analyses, particularly between CENTER-TBI and TRACK-TBI.
- Gaps in global applicability were identified, mainly concerning outcome instruments available only in English.
- Further refinement and internationalization of TBI-CDEs are needed to establish them as a global standard for TBI research.
