Turkish Neurosurgery
Adherence to Traumatic Brain Injury Guidelines in Turkey: A National Survey Study
Buse Sarigul1, Deniz Sirinoglu2, Gregory W.J. Hawryluk 3
1Tuzla Public Hospital, Neurosurgery , Istanbul ,
2Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Neurosurgery, Istanbul,
3Cleveland Clinic, Neurosurgery, Ohio,
DOI: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.42852-22.2

Aim:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality all around the world. Clinical practice guidelines (CPG) are documents that provide evidence-based recommendations to practitioners in an effort to encourage standardization and dissemination of best practices. This study presents the adherence to guidelines for the management of TBI in Turkey and physicians’ attitudes toward standardized, evidence-based medical practice.Material and Methods:Survey questions were uploaded on the website www.surveymonkey.com and delivered to the participants via e-mail or social media applications. The first 10 questions were on profiles of the participants and the remaining were purposed on presenting the physicians’ viewpoint on CPG adherence and barriers against it. SPSS 17.0 for Windows software program was utilized for statistical analysis. Results:404 physicians who are enrolled in TBI management participated in this study. 59.5% of the participants were neurosurgeons, 16.7% were anesthesiologists and 23.9% were emergency medicine practitioners. 61.7% of the respondents stated that they frequently adhere to CPG recommendations in TBI. In their own experience, most respondents agreed that CPGs improve outcomes frequently. They stated that they would embrace recommendations with weak evidence occasionally or never. Physicians reached a consensus on individualizing the decision-making along with CPG recommendations. Conclusion:61% of the participants embrace the guideline recommendations in clinical practice. The main barriers to implementing guidelines are the strength of evidence levels and the affordability of the recommendations.

Corresponding author : Buse Sarigul