Barriers to equitable access to quality trauma care in Rwanda: a qualitative study

Objectives
Using the ‘Four Delay’ framework, our study aimed to identify and explore barriers to accessing quality injury care from the injured patients’, caregivers’ and community leaders’ perspectives.

Design
A qualitative study assessing barriers to trauma care comprising 20 in-depth semistructured interviews and 4 focus group discussions was conducted. The data were analysed thematically.

Setting
This qualitative study was conducted in Rwanda’s rural Burera District, located in the Northern Province, and in Kigali City, the country’s urban capital, to capture both the rural and urban population’s experiences of being injured.

Participants
Purposively selected participants were individuals from urban and rural communities who had accessed injury care in the previous 6 months or cared for the injured people, and community leaders. Fifty-one participants, 13 females and 38 males ranging from 21 to 68 years of age participated in interviews and focus group discussions. Thirty-six (71%) were former trauma patients with a wide range of injuries including fractured long bones (9, 45%), other fractures, head injury, polytrauma (3, 15% each), abdominal trauma (1, 5%), and lacerations (1, 5%), while the rest were caregivers and community leaders.

Results
Multiple barriers were identified cutting across all levels of the ‘Four Delays’ framework, including barriers to seeking, reaching, receiving and remaining in care. Key barriers mentioned by participants in both interviews and focus group discussions were: lack of community health insurance, limited access to ambulances, insufficient number of trauma care specialists and a high volume of trauma patients. The rigid referral process and lack of decentralised rehabilitation services were also identified as significant barriers to accessing quality care for injured patients.

Conclusions
Future interventions to improve access to injury care in Rwanda must be informed by the identified barriers along the spectrum of care, from the point of injury to receipt of care and rehabilitation.

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Settembre 2023

Did implementation of no-fault auto-insurance in British Columbia, Canada, impact return to work following road trauma? Protocol for a before-after survival analysis

Introduction
Road trauma (RT) is a major public health problem that often results in prolonged absenteeism from work. Limited evidence suggests that recovery after RT is associated with automobile insurance compensation schemes. In May 2021, British Columbia, Canada switched from fault-based to no-fault auto-insurance coverage. This manuscript presents the protocol for a planned evaluation of that natural experiment: We will evaluate the impact of changing automobile insurance schemes on return to work following RT.

Methods and analysis
The evaluation will use a before–after design to analyse auto-insurance claims (1 April 2019 to 30 April 2024) in order to compare recovery of claimants with non-catastrophic injuries who filed claims under the no-fault insurance scheme to that of those who filed claims under the previous system. Claimants will be followed from date of injury until they return to work or have been followed for 6 months (right-censored). We will perform sensitivity analyses to examine the robustness of our findings. First, we will exclude injuries that occurred during the COVID-19 provincial State of Emergency. Second, we will use propensity score methods rather than conventional covariate adjustment to address potential imbalance between characteristics of claimants pre-change and post-change. Finally, as the implementation effect may have a heterogeneous association with time off work, we will use quantile regression with right-censoring at 6 months to model differences in return to work at the 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles.

Ethics and dissemination
The study uses de-identified data and is approved by the University of British Columbia Clinical Research Ethics Board (H20-03644). This research is funded by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). Findings will be published in the peer-reviewed literature and summarised in a report prepared for ICBC. We anticipate that our findings will inform policy decisions in other jurisdictions considering switching to no-fault auto-insurance schemes.

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Settembre 2023

Four-Factor Prothrombin Complex Concentrate for Patients With Trauma—Reply

In Reply We appreciate the Letters to the Editor about the PROCOAG trial. Regarding the comments by Dr Hsu and colleagues about the timing of administration of 4F-PCC, the design of our study stated without ambiguity that early corresponded to administration within the hour of admission to the resuscitation room. The per-protocol population analyzed patients within this time frame.

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Settembre 2023

Attachment and trauma-informed programme to support forcibly displaced parents of youth in Sweden: feasibility and preliminary outcomes of the eConnect Online programme

Objectives
To assess the feasibility, acceptability and the impact of an online parenting programme for forcibly displaced parents of adolescents.

Design
The study was a single-arm feasibility study using pre-intervention post-intervention and follow-up assessments.

Setting
Participants were recruited from municipality-based activities for refugee parents in a small city in the south of Sweden.

Participants
Participants were forcibly displaced parents (n=23; 47.8% maternal figures) of youth (n=23; 8–17 years old; 26.1% female) from Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia participating in an online parenting programme (eConnect).

Intervention
eConnect is an attachment-based and trauma-informed parenting intervention and was delivered over the course of 10 weekly sessions.

Primary and secondary outcome measures
Feasibility was assessed by programme enrolment, attendance, completion and acceptability of the online platform and cultural fit of the programme. Primary outcome measures were programme impact on youth mental health problems. Secondary outcome measures were programme impact on family functioning and parent–child attachment insecurity.

Results
The eConnect programme was highly feasible in terms of overall enrolment (100%), attendance (89.6%) and retention rates (100%). The online platform was acceptable, with mixed feedback primarily related to the access and usage of technology. Cultural fit of the programme was acceptable. Youth mental health problems (2=0.29) and family functioning significantly improved (2=0.18) over the course of the programme. Unexpectedly, parent reports of youth attachment insecurity significantly worsened (2=0.16).

Conclusions
The findings suggest that the online delivery of Connect was a promising way to reduce barriers to service access and improve mental health problems and family functioning among forcibly displaced parents and their children during COVID-19. Future research is needed to explore the acceptability and impact of this programme post-COVID-19, and to develop culturally tailored and psychometrically sound measures for parent and youth reports of attachment.

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Agosto 2023

UNITE Project: understanding neurocognitive impairment after trauma exposure-study protocol of an observational study in Christchurch, New Zealand

Introduction
Our previous research has demonstrated significant cognitive effects of earthquake exposure 2–3 years following the Canterbury earthquake sequence of 2011. Such impairment has major implications for a population trying to recover, and to rebuild, a devastated city. This study aims to examine psychological, cognitive and biological factors that may contribute to subjective cognitive difficulties in a large group of individuals exposed to the Canterbury earthquake sequence.

Methods and analysis
Two-hundred earthquake-exposed participants from an existing large cohort study (Christchurch Health and Development Study, CHDS) will be recruited. Inclusion is based on results of online screening of the CHDS cohort, using the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire. Individuals scoring the highest (n=100) and lowest (n=100), representing the highest and lowest levels of subjective cognitive impairment, are selected. Exclusions are: psychotic/bipolar disorders, serious substance/alcohol dependence, chronic medical conditions, pregnancy and previous serious head injury. Participants will undergo a half-day assessment including clinician-rated interviews, self-report measures, objective and subjective cognitive assessments, blood sample collection and physical measurements. The primary analysis will compare cognitive, psychological and biological measures in ‘high’ and ‘low’ subjective cognitive impairment groups. The study will have power (p

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Agosto 2023

Co-development of traumatic stress symptoms and externalising behaviour problems among foster children and the effect of complex trauma: a latent growth curve model

Objectives
Foster children are disproportionately exposed to complex trauma, which may lead to multifaceted impairments that manifest in comorbid emotional and behavioural problems. As little is known about the interactions between comorbid disorders over time, the present study aims to explore the co-development of traumatic stress (TS) symptoms and externalising behaviour problems (EBP), as well as the influence of complex trauma operationalised as cumulative child maltreatment (CM).

Setting
As part of a 3-year longitudinal study, children from six foster care facilities in Lower Austria were interviewed at three measurement points.

Participants
Of, in total, 263 participating children, the data of 124 children aged 10–18 years (M=13.5, 28% female) could be analysed.

Primary and secondary outcome measures
Latent growth curve models were used to examine the co-development of TS symptoms (International Trauma Questionnaire) and EBP (Child Behaviour Checklist) over time; gender, age and cumulative CM (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) acted as time-invariant covariates.

Results
While average TS symptoms decreased over time, EBP remained stable. Findings revealed that the initial severity of EBP was both related to the initial severity of TS symptoms and predictive of their rate of change. Cumulative CM was a significant predictor of initial TS symptoms and EBP even after controlling for age and gender, but not for the rates of change.

Conclusions
Taken together, our results indicate that EBP and TS symptoms are not only cross-sectionally associated but interact with each other over time. Furthermore, an underlying complex trauma could at least partly determine the severity of the two symptom groups. In accordance with a trauma-informed care approach, our study highlights the importance of trauma-specific screening of high-risk children with complex or diffuse symptoms and argues for the benefits of treatments that focus on improving emotion regulation and social skills in addition to addressing trauma.

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Agosto 2023

Mind-body exercise interventions for prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective
Mind-body exercise (MBE) interventions, such as yoga, are increasingly recognised as an adjunct treatment for trauma-related mental disorders but less is known about their efficacy as a preventative intervention. We aimed to systematically review if, and what type of, MBE interventions are effective at preventing the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or acute stress disorder (ASD) in trauma-exposed populations.

Design
Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods
A systematic search of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE and CENTRAL databases was conducted to identify controlled trials of MBE interventions aimed at preventing the development of PTSD or ASD in high-risk populations. Risk of bias was assessed using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias and ROBINS-I tools. Pooled effect sizes using Hedges’ g and 95% CIs were calculated using random effects modelling for the main meta-analysis and planned subgroup and sensitivity analyses.

Results
Six studies (N analysed=399) were included in the final meta-analysis. Overall, there was a small effect for MBE interventions in preventing the development of PTSD (g=–0.25, 95% CI –0.56 to 0.06) among those with previous or ongoing exposure to trauma. Although a prespecified subgroup analyses comparing the different types of MBE intervention were conducted, meaningful conclusions could not be drawn due to the small number of studies. None of the included studies assessed ASD symptoms.

Conclusion
Limited evidence was found for MBE interventions in reducing PTSD symptomology in the short term. Findings must be interpreted with caution due to the small number of studies and possible publication bias.

PROSPERO registration number
CRD42020180375

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Luglio 2023

Protocol for scoping review to identify and characterise surgery, obstetric, trauma and anaesthesia care in Ugandan health policy databases

Introduction
Diseases addressed by surgical, obstetric, trauma and anaesthesia (SOTA) care are rising globally due to an anticipated rise in the burden of non-communicable diseases and road traffic accidents. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) disproportionately bear the brunt. Evidence-based policies and political commitment are required to reverse this trend. The Lancet Commission of Global Surgery proposed National Surgical and Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans (NSOAPs) to alleviate the respective SOTA burdens in LMICs. NSOAPs success leverages comprehensive stakeholder engagement and appropriate health policy analyses and recommendations. As Uganda embarks on its NSOAP development, policy prioritisation in Uganda remains unexplored. We, therefore, seek to determine the priority given to SOTA care in Uganda’s healthcare policy and systems-relevant documents.

Methods and analysis
We will conduct a scoping review of SOTA health policy and system-relevant documents produced between 2000 and 2022 using the Arksey and O’Malley methodological framework and additional guidance from the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewer’s manual. These documents will be sought from the websites of SOTA stakeholders by hand searching. We shall also search from Google Scholar and PubMed using well-defined search strategies. The Knowledge Management Portal for the Ugandan Ministry of Health, which was created to provide evidence-based decision-making data, is the primary source. The rest of the sources will include the following: other repositories like websites of relevant government institutions, international and national non-governmental organisations, professional associations and councils, and religious and medical bureaus. Data retrieved from the eligible policy and decision-making documents will include the year of publication, the global surgery specialty mentioned, the NSOAP surgical system domain, the national priority area involved and funding. The data will be collected in a preformed extraction sheet. Two independent reviewers will screen the collected data, and results will be presented as counts and their respective proportions. The findings will be reported narratively using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for scoping reviews.

Ethics and dissemination
This study will generate evidence-based information on the state of SOTA care in Uganda’s health policy, which will inform NSOAP development in this nation. The review’s findings will be presented to the Ministry of Health planning task force. The study will also be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication; oral and poster presentations at local, regional, national and international conferences and over social media.

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Luglio 2023