Global Burn Core Outcome Set

130,000 patients with burns require treatment in A&E each year. Improved care has meant that fewer patients die, so we cannot use survival alone to measure how good care is. Researchers currently use different outcomes to assess care quality and new treatments. This makes it difficult for researchers and clinicians to work out which treatments are best. Developing and using one set of outcomes that we know is important to patients and clinicians will allow better comparison and combining of the results of research studies. By doing this, it is expected that decisions about the best care for patients can be based on evidence. A Core Outcome Set (COS) is a minimum set of outcomes agreed, defined, measured and reported in a standard way included in all studies of a specific clinical area.

This project was led by Professor Amber Young at the University of Bristol.