Variation in monitoring and treatment policies for intracranial hypertension in traumatic brain injury: a survey in 66 neurotrauma centers participating in the CENTER-TBI study

Table 1 Factors associated with an aggressive ICP management style

Factor	Relatively aggressive centers (n = 32)	Relatively conservative centers (n = 34)	p Value
ICU organization			0.05
Closed	17 (40%)	26 (60%)
Open/mixed	15 (65%)	8 (35%)
Dedicated neurosciences ICU			0.96
Available	19 (49%)	20 (51%)
Not available	13 (48%)	14 (52%)
BTF guidelines used^a			0.48
Yes	25 (51%)	24 (49%)
No	7 (41%)	10 (59%)
Volume^b			0.82
High volume	17 (47%)	19 (53%)
Low volume	15 (50%)	15 (50%)
Country’s income level^c			0.83
High income	27 (49%)	28 (51%)
Relatively low income	5 (46%)	6 (54%)
Geographic location^d			0.84
Northern Europe	4 (44%)	5 (56%)
Western Europe	13 (52%)	15 (48%)
United Kingdom	3 (43%)	4 (57%)
Southern Europe	5 (42%)	7 (58%)
Baltic states	2 (40%)	3 (60%)
Eastern Europe	3 (50%)	3 (50%)
Israel	2 (100%)	0 (0%)

BTF Brain Trauma Foundation, ICU Intensive care unit
^a BTF guidelines or institutional guidelines that were broadly based on the BTF guidelines
^b Relatively high volume (number of patients with severe TBI admitted to the ICU higher than the median number of patients with severe TBI admitted to the ICU [n = 92]) vs. relatively low volume (number of patients with severe TBI admitted to the ICU lower than or equal to the median number of patients with severe TBI admitted to the ICU)
^c The division into relatively high- and low-income countries was based on a 2007 report by the European Union [21]. High income = Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Switzerland; relatively low income = Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Serbia
^d Northern Europe = Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark; Western Europe = Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands; Southern Europe = Italy and Spain; Eastern Europe = Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina; Baltic states = Latvia and Lithuania

ISSN: 1364-8535