by In an initiative to improve burns care globally, a new online survey has been launched, urging people to participate and help identify the top ten research priorities in burns care. This survey, part of the collaboration between the University of Bristol and James Lind Alliance, aims to give burns patients, caregivers, and clinicians a stronger voice in shaping burns care worldwide.
The Priorities in Global Burns Research Partnership, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), brings together a Steering Group comprising clinicians, representatives from various international organizations involved in burns care and research, as well as patients and members of the public.
Burn injuries affect approximately 11 million individuals worldwide, with 140,000 patients in England alone every year. Notably, around 70% of burns occur in lower-income countries, including those in Africa and South-East Asia.
Burn patients often face difficulties that impact various aspects of their daily lives, such as mobility, dressing, mental health, and coping with scars. Unfortunately, there is limited research evidence available to guide healthcare professionals in making treatment decisions, resulting in variations in care between hospitals and suboptimal outcomes for patients.
The NIHR Advanced Fellowship, led by the late Professor Amber Young, supported this project. Professor Young, a Senior Lecturer at the Bristol Centre for Surgical Research and Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW), was deeply committed to improving burns care worldwide. Tragically, she passed away in September 2022 after battling Stage 4 cancer for several years.
Continuing Professor Young’s legacy, Jane Blazeby, her colleague and friend, as well as a Professor of Surgery at Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences (PHS), expressed her determination to advance burns care for patients and survivors worldwide through this project.
The survey has already garnered responses from over 1,600 individuals from 79 countries in its initial stage. These responses have been carefully analyzed to compile a list of unanswered questions aimed at enhancing global burns care.
The second phase of the survey will invite burns survivors, their families and caregivers, as well as healthcare professionals, to select ten questions from the compiled list that they consider most important. Subsequently, a final workshop consisting of survivors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals will convene early next year to determine the top ten questions based on the majority’s responses.
These top ten research questions will then guide research funders and researchers to focus on addressing the issues most pertinent to patients and clinicians. By prioritizing these questions, the project aims to generate evidence-based insights that will facilitate informed decision-making in burns care worldwide.
The second survey is estimated to require less than ten minutes to complete and is available in seven languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Vietnamese.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
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