Action Collaborative on Traumatic Brain Injury Care: Adapted Clinical Practice Guideline.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Public Health
• Clinical Practice Guidelines

Background:

• Outpatient follow-up care for traumatic brain injury (TBI) lacks consistency.
• The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened the Action Collaborative on TBI Care to address this issue.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a standardized clinical practice guideline for the outpatient management of TBI.
• To provide evidence-based recommendations for community-dwelling adults with TBI.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature reviews identified 18 existing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.
• Recommendations were extracted and synthesized using the ADAPTE process.
• Evidence strength was rated using the American Academy of Family Physician's adaptation of GRADE, with consensus voting and external review.

Main Results:

• The guideline addresses 11 priority topics for TBI care.
• Key areas include diagnosis confirmation, neuroimaging, social determinants of health, return to activities, patient education, symptom assessment, and treatment initiation for headache and mental health disorders.
• Guidance is provided on when to refer to specialty care.

Conclusions:

• The Action Collaborative on TBI Care guideline aims to standardize TBI management.
• It provides a framework for consistent, evidence-based outpatient follow-up care for TBI survivors.
• The guideline emphasizes a comprehensive approach, including diagnosis, symptom management, and referral decisions.