Feasibility of an Unfunded Multicenter Trial Group for Older Adult Burn Patients: A Retrospective Study

Ashleigh Bull; Shawn Tejiram; Lauren B Nosanov; Alisa Savetamal; Dhaval Bhavsar; Sam Miotke; David M Hill; Sara Higginson; Theresa Chin; Andrea Long; Alexandra Lacey; Rosemary Paine; Mark Johnston; Deepak K Ozhathil; Marc G Jeschke; Lucy Wibbenmeyer; Colette Galet; Kathleen Romanowski

doi:10.1093/jbcr/irag079

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Feasibility of an Unfunded Multicenter Trial Group for Older Adult Burn Patients: A Retrospective Study

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Feasibility of an Unfunded Multicenter Trial Group for Older Adult Burn Patients: A Retrospective Study

Ashleigh Bull, Shawn Tejiram, Lauren B Nosanov, Alisa Savetamal, Dhaval Bhavsar, Sam Miotke, David M Hill, Sara Higginson, Theresa Chin, Andrea Long, …

Journal of burn care & research

05/23/2026

DOI: 10.1093/jbcr/irag079

PMID: 42176234

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Abstract

Older adults make up a growing population of burn patients but pose unique physiological challenges that require specialized care. Comprehensive multicenter data are limited, and single-center studies lack the power to answer key questions for this group. This study assessed the feasibility of forming an unfunded multicenter trial group to study older burn patients and piloted a retrospective study to explore trends in their care and their clinical outcomes. After Institutional Review Board approval and executing data use agreements, twelve North American burn centers collected standardized data on patients aged 60 and older treated from 2017-2019. Demographics, burn characteristics, interventions, and outcomes were gathered from each site's Burn Care Quality Platform (BCQP) submissions or Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and entered in a centralized REDCap database. Among the 1,632 patients included in the database, median age was 68 years; most were male (67%) and White (73%) with a median BMI of 27.5. Median burn size was 3.5% total surface area, and patients arrived a median of 4.7 hours post-injury. The median modified Baux score was 76.2. Patients typically underwent one operation within three days of arrival, leading to a median hospital stay of 6 days and ICU stay of 1 day. In-hospital mortality was 10.4%, and median time to wound healing was 40 days. This pilot demonstrates that an unfunded multicenter collaboration is feasible and can generate meaningful data to guide care for older burn patients. Strong inter-institutional collaboration and communication and standardized data definitions were key to success.

Burns

older adults

unfunded

management

multicenter

Details

Title: Subtitle: Feasibility of an Unfunded Multicenter Trial Group for Older Adult Burn Patients: A Retrospective Study
Creators: Ashleigh Bull - University of Iowa
Shawn Tejiram - MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Lauren B Nosanov - Grady Memorial Hospital
Alisa Savetamal - Bridgeport Hospital
Dhaval Bhavsar - University of Kansas Medical Center
Sam Miotke - Regions Hospital
David M Hill - Regional Medical Center
Sara Higginson - Dayton Children's Hospital
Theresa Chin - University of California, Irvine
Andrea Long - Community Regional Medical Center
Alexandra Lacey - Regions Hospital
Rosemary Paine - Maine Medical Center
Mark Johnston - Regions Hospital
Deepak K Ozhathil - Akron Children's Hospital
Marc G Jeschke - Hamilton Health Sciences
Lucy Wibbenmeyer - University of Iowa
Colette Galet - University of Iowa Health Care
Kathleen Romanowski - University of California Davis Medical Center
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of burn care & research
DOI: 10.1093/jbcr/irag079
PMID: 42176234
ISSN: 1559-047X
eISSN: 1559-0488
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Language: English
Electronic publication date: 05/23/2026
Academic Unit: Surgery; Injury Prevention Research Center; University of Iowa Health Care
Record Identifier: 9985166829302771

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