Core Outcome Set for Burns

Every year, nearly 11 million people are treated for burn injuries. Most of these people survive – but researchers and clinicians across the world use different outcomes to measure how well they recover. This makes it difficult to know which treatments work best. Without a standard list of data for doctors to record, it becomes almost impossible to compare one treatment to another or test the strength of a treatment across multiple studies.  

A Core Outcome Set (COS) is a minimum set of outcomes, agreed by patients and professionals. These outcomes are measured and reported in all clinical trials for a specific health condition, meaning studies can be compared more easily. Lots of conditions already have a Core Outcome Set. 

This study was funded in 2018 to create a Core Outcome Set that doctors and scientists across the world could use to improve burns treatments. 

What did the researchers do? 

Led by Professor Amber Young, the development of the International Core Outcome Set in Burns Care (COSB-i) involved many months of discussions with patients and professionals from all over the world.  

Surveys were used to narrow down which outcomes should be included in the final set. The team started with 88 outcomes, drawn from papers that had already been published. This was whittled down to just seven after three rounds of prioritising and discarding. Over 750 health professionals from 75 countries were included in discussions to decide which outcomes were most important. 

What was the result?  

The full COSB-i was published in the British Medical Journal in 2022 and includes 7 measurable outcomes: 

1. Death (including death from any cause, including from the burn)
2. Serious complications (including wound infection, sepsis, venous thrombosis) 
3. Ability to do daily tasks (including walking) 
4. Time to heal (including burn wound healing, grafted and donor site wound healing) 
5. Neuropathic pain and itch 
6. Patient psychology (including anxiety and anxiety about the future)
7. Time to return to work or school or previous occupation 

These outcomes look at both short-term and long-term recovery, which was important to the patients involved in the research. 

What impact has this research had? 

The COSB is a huge leap forward in burns care research. These agreed outcomes will make it easier to compare and contrast treatment options, meaning patients will receive better care.