Adherence to Traumatic Brain Injury Guidelines in Turkey: A National Survey Study.

Abstract

Aim: To discuss adherence to guidelines for the management of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Türkiye and physicians' attitudes toward standardized, evidence-based medical practice.

Material and methods: Survey questions were uploaded on the website www.surveymonkey.com and sent to the participants via e-mail or social media applications. The first 10 questions were about the participants' profiles, and the rest were purposed on presenting the physicians' viewpoint on and barriers against CPG adherence. SPSS version 17.0 for Windows was used for statistical analysis.

Results: A total of 404 physicians (neurosurgeons, 59.5%; anesthesiologists, 16.7%; and emergency medicine practitioners, 23.9%) who were involved in TBI management were included in this study. Of them, 61.7% stated that they frequently adhere to the CPG recommendations for TBI. In their own experience, most of the respondents agreed that CPGs frequently improve outcomes. They stated that they would occasionally or never adopt recommendations with weak evidence. Physicians reached a consensus on individualizing the decision-making along with the CPG recommendations.

Conclusion: Of the participants, 61% adopted the CPG recommendations. The main barriers to the implementation of the CPGs are the strength of evidence levels and the affordability of the recommendations.