Thom, Ogilvie, Roberts, Kym, Leggat, Peter A., Devine, Susan, Peden, Amy E., and Franklin, Richard Charles (2023) Addressing gaps in our understanding of the drowning patient: a protocol for the retrospective development of an Utstein style database and multicentre collaboration. British Medical Journal, 13 (2). e068380.

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Abstract

Introduction: This retrospective observational study aims to create a comprehensive database of the circumstances of drowning (including care provided and outcomes of care) to report against the Utstein style for drowning (USFD) for patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). Four areas will be examined: a feasibility study of the USFD; a comparison of classification and prognostication systems; examination of indications and efficacy of different ventilation strategies; and differences in the circumstances, severity, treatment and outcomes of drowning by sex and gender.

Methods and analysis: This protocol outlines retrospective data collection for all patients presenting to EDs of the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service in Queensland, Australia with the presenting problem or discharge diagnosis of drowning or immersion between 2015 and 2022. Patients computerised health records (emergency medical service record, pathology, radiology results, medical and nursing notes for ED, inpatient units and intensive care units) will be used to extract data for entry into an USFD database. Descriptive (eg, median, IQR) and inferential statistical analyses (eg, analysis of variance) will be used to answer the separate research questions. Development of an International Drowning Registry using the USFD dataset and the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) web application is discussed.

Ethics and dissemination: This study has been approved by Metro North Human Research and Ethics Committee (Project No: 49754) and James Cook University Human Research Ethics Committee (H8014). It has been endorsed by national drowning prevention organisations Royal Life Saving Society Australia (RLSSA) and Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA). Study findings will provide data to better inform clinical management of drowning patients and provide an evidence base on sex and gender differences in drowning. Results will be disseminated through peer review publications, conference presentations and media releases. Results will also be disseminated through RLSSA and SLSA membership of the Australian and New Zealand Resuscitation Council and the Australian Water Safety Council.

Item ID:	77850
Item Type:	Article (Scholarly Work)
ISSN:	1756-1833
Keywords:	Drowning: utstein
Copyright Information:	This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Funders:	National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Projects and Grants:	NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellowship Grant ID: APP2009306
Date Deposited:	07 Mar 2023 01:08
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420604 Injury prevention @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420309 Health management @ 50%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200105 Treatment of human diseases and conditions @ 50% 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200408 Injury prevention and control @ 50%
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