• Gregory J Jurkovich, Frederick P Rivara, Jennifer M Johansen, and Ronald V Maier.
• Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Seattle, Washington, USA. jerryj@u.washington.edu
• J Trauma. 2004 May 1; 56 (5): 1166-70.

BackgroundThe purpose of this report is to identify the most important research questions pertaining to the acute care of the injured patient using a Web-based Delphi technique to achieve expert opinion consensus.MethodsExperts in trauma care from the United States and Canada (n =39) generated structured research questions and then ranked these questions in order of importance, using a Web-based survey for question generation, question ranking, and a Delphi technique of consensus. Guidelines for question construction and ranking specified that participants considered questions that fall within the interest and domain of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)-National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC).ResultsOne hundred thirty-seven questions in 18 distinct categories of interest were initially generated. After two rounds of merging, collating, reassessing, and ranking by significance and importance, 25 research questions were deemed most important and significant in the care of the injured patient. Ten of these (40%) were considered to be appropriate issues for the CDC-NCIPC to address and fund, dealing with injury prevention strategies, trauma systems design and funding, the epidemiology of injury, and global outcome determinants. These 25 questions were also reviewed with consideration given to the most likely source of federal funding of investigations.ConclusionThis report identifies the areas of trauma care in which research efforts might best be directed. Fully 40% of the key research questions could be considered to fall under the interest and auspices of the CDC-NCIPC. The remaining questions cover a broad range of topics and likely funding sources, emphasizing the need for a coordinated oversight of research funding in trauma care.

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