TY - JOUR
T1 - Research priorities in emergency general surgery (EGS)
T2 - a modified Delphi approach
AU - Scottish Surgical Research Group, the World Society of Emergency Surgery and the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain & Ireland
AU - Vaughan, Elizabeth Mary
AU - Pearson, Robert
AU - Wohlgemut, Jared Mark
AU - Knight, Stephen Richard
AU - Spiers, Harry
AU - Damaskos, Dimitrios
AU - Cornish, Julie
AU - Parmar, Chetan
AU - Mahawar, Kamal
AU - Moug, Susan
AU - Baiocchi, Gian Luca
AU - Catena, Fausto
AU - Tierney, Gillian
AU - Wilson, Michael Samuel James
N1 - © 2022. The Author(s).
PY - 2022/6/16
Y1 - 2022/6/16
N2 - BACKGROUND: Emergency general surgery (EGS) patients account for more than one-third of admissions to hospitals in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. The associated mortality of these patients has been quoted as approximately eight times higher than that of elective surgical admissions. This study used a modified Delphi approach to identify research priorities in EGS. The aim was to establish a research agenda using a formal consensus-based approach in an effort to identify questions relevant to EGS that could ultimately guide research to improve outcomes for this cohort.METHODS: Three rounds were conducted using an electronic questionnaire and involved health care professionals, research personnel, patients and their relatives. In the first round, stakeholders were invited to submit clinical research questions that they felt were priorities for future research. In rounds two and three, participants were asked to score individual questions in order of priority using a 5-point Likert scale. Between rounds, an expert panel analysed results before forwarding questions to subsequent rounds.RESULTS: Ninety-two EGS research questions were proposed in Phase 1. Following the first round of prioritisation, forty-seven questions progressed to the final phase. A final list of seventeen research questions were identified from the final round of prioritisation, categorised as condition-specific questions of high interest within general EGS, emergency colorectal surgery, non-technical and health services research. A broad range of research questions were identified including questions on peri-operative strategies, EGS outcomes in older patients, as well as non-technical and technical influences on EGS outcomes.CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides a consensus delivered framework that should determine the research agenda for future EGS projects. It may also assist setting priorities for research funding and multi-centre collaborative strategies within the academic clinical interest of EGS.
AB - BACKGROUND: Emergency general surgery (EGS) patients account for more than one-third of admissions to hospitals in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. The associated mortality of these patients has been quoted as approximately eight times higher than that of elective surgical admissions. This study used a modified Delphi approach to identify research priorities in EGS. The aim was to establish a research agenda using a formal consensus-based approach in an effort to identify questions relevant to EGS that could ultimately guide research to improve outcomes for this cohort.METHODS: Three rounds were conducted using an electronic questionnaire and involved health care professionals, research personnel, patients and their relatives. In the first round, stakeholders were invited to submit clinical research questions that they felt were priorities for future research. In rounds two and three, participants were asked to score individual questions in order of priority using a 5-point Likert scale. Between rounds, an expert panel analysed results before forwarding questions to subsequent rounds.RESULTS: Ninety-two EGS research questions were proposed in Phase 1. Following the first round of prioritisation, forty-seven questions progressed to the final phase. A final list of seventeen research questions were identified from the final round of prioritisation, categorised as condition-specific questions of high interest within general EGS, emergency colorectal surgery, non-technical and health services research. A broad range of research questions were identified including questions on peri-operative strategies, EGS outcomes in older patients, as well as non-technical and technical influences on EGS outcomes.CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides a consensus delivered framework that should determine the research agenda for future EGS projects. It may also assist setting priorities for research funding and multi-centre collaborative strategies within the academic clinical interest of EGS.
KW - Aged
KW - Biomedical Research
KW - Consensus
KW - Delphi Technique
KW - Humans
KW - State Medicine
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
U2 - 10.1186/s13017-022-00432-0
DO - 10.1186/s13017-022-00432-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 35710497
SN - 1749-7922
VL - 17
SP - 33
JO - World Journal of Emergency Surgery
JF - World Journal of Emergency Surgery
IS - 1
ER -