A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of a Collaborative Care Intervention for Spanish-Speaking Injury Survivors

Area of Science:

• Trauma surgery
• Psychiatry
• Health services research

Background:

• Physically injured Spanish-speaking patients face unique challenges in accessing mental health services.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other post-injury concerns are prevalent in this population.
• Collaborative care models offer a potential solution for integrated mental health delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and acceptability of a collaborative care intervention for physically injured, Spanish-speaking patients.
• To evaluate the intervention's impact on PTSD symptoms, post-injury concerns, and healthcare utilization.
• To inform future large-scale trials of collaborative care in trauma populations.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of patients within a larger comparative effectiveness trial.
• Inclusion of 22 Spanish-speaking adult survivors of intentional and unintentional injuries.
• Randomization to collaborative care or enhanced usual care, with outcomes measured over 12 months post-injury.

Main Results:

• High follow-up rates (>75%) achieved at multiple time points.
• The collaborative care intervention was demonstrated to be feasible and acceptable to patients.
• No statistically significant differences were found between the intervention and control groups for primary outcomes.

Conclusions:

• A collaborative care intervention can be feasibly and acceptably delivered to Spanish-speaking injury survivors with PTSD symptoms.
• The intervention shows potential but requires further investigation in larger, adequately powered randomized clinical trials.
• Future research should focus on optimizing and validating this model for diverse trauma populations.