Difficulties in establishing long-term trauma outcomes data collections. Could trauma outcomes be routinely monitored in New South Wales, Australia: piloting a 3 month follow-up?

Injuries represent a significant health burden in Australia. In New South Wales (NSW), no routine follow-up of post-injury health outcomes is conducted. This article describes the development of a protocol and the conduct of a pilot study to collect information on trauma outcomes at 3 months post-injury at two trauma centres. A modified Victorian model of trauma outcomes monitoring was adopted, with potential participants required to 'opt in' to the collection. Fifty-three percent of individuals contacted consented to opt in, with 75% of these completing an interview. The data items collected were able to provide an indicator of the impact of trauma on individuals. This study has highlighted that there are important methodological issues to be addressed in terms of recruitment in establishing long-term trauma outcomes data collections that are representative of the trauma population. Ultimately, information from a long-term trauma outcomes collection could be linked to data collections to conduct research across the injury continuum.