Applying Data Mining To A Cohort Of Acute Traumatic Brain Injury Admissions: Our Experiences

This chapter reports the findings of a clinical data-mining project which explored the patient journey of those admitted to an acute hospital with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study focused on post-traumatic amnesia testing, occupational therapy input and discharge planning. Clinical guidelines recommend that acute patients admitted with TBI have early referral to occupational therapy and are assessed with the Westmead Post Traumatic Amnesia Scale (WPTAS). Concern about the efficacy of our occupational therapy department's management of this patient population motivated the authors to undertake this initiative.The study audited the records of 311 TBI admissions over a 12-month period. It found that over half of admissions were aged between 16 and 35 years, nearly 60% of all admissions resulted from a motor vehicle accident and that 94% received assessment and intervention. This study identified a gap in recommended service delivery relating to the provision of patient education. This chapter documents evidence that, with some academic support and despite time and resource constraints, full-time clinicians can successfully mine routinely collected data, analyse service delivery, identify evidence-practice gaps and potentially improve the healthcare provided to patients admitted to an acute hospital setting.