Developing templates for uniform data documentation and reporting in critical care using a
modified nominal group technique
Sammanfattning
Background
Clinical practice in trauma and critical care is predominantly derived from quantitative observational
cohort studies based on data retrospectively collected from medical records. Such data create
uncontrolled bias and influence external and internal validity, thereby hindering systematic reviews.
Templates or standards for uniform documenting and scientific reporting may result in high quality
and internationally standardised data being collected on a regular basis, enhance large international
multi-centre studies, and increase the quality of evidence. Templates or standards may be developed
using multidisciplinary expert panel consensus methods.
We present three consensus processes aimed at developing templates for documenting and
scientific reporting. We discuss the advantages, limitations, and possible future improvements of our
method.
Methods
The template preparation was based on expert panel consensus derived through a modified nominal
group technique (NGT) method that combined the traditional Delphi method with the traditional NGT
method in a four-step process.
Results
Standard templates for documenting and scientific reporting were developed for major trauma, pre-
hospital advanced airway handling, and physician-staffed pre-hospital EMS. All templates were
published in scientific journals.
Conclusion
Our modified NGT consensus method can successfully be used to establish templates for reporting
trauma and critical care data. When used in a structured manner, the method uses recognised
experts to achieve consensus, but based on our experiences, we recommend the consensus process
to be followed by feasibility, reliability, and validity testing.