A protocol article describing the IPOT project published in BMJ Open

Serious injury (trauma) is a major cause of death among persons under 45 years globally and may cause serious disability with long-term negative effects on physical and mental health. Survivors of trauma experience considerable negative physical, socioeconomic and quality of life related effects years after injury. The IPOT project is an extensive research project that aims to provide substantial knowledge on trauma epidemiology and trauma survivorship in Norway. A comprehensive research database will be established based on the nationwide Norwegian Trauma Registry (NTR), and these data will be coupled with data from five national registries (Figure 1) termed the NTR+ research file. In total, 10 trauma-free controls, sampled from the general Norwegian population, have been matched by birth year and sex to each trauma patient included in the NTR between 2015 and 2018, according to a nested case-control design for trauma risk analyses. These controls will be analysed in a matched cohort study design, by considering several outcomes after trauma between the cases and controls. This will give an overall study population of approximately 290 000 persons. Data from all registries for the whole study population will be collected for the period 2014 to 2020, thus giving at least one year observation before and two years after the trauma. This dataset will enable complex epidemiologic analyses, as data on all diagnoses given in primary- and specialist health care, as well as drug prescriptions, both before and after the trauma will be available. The overall vision of the IPOT project is to improve our understanding and knowledge of both pre-trauma risk factors and post-trauma deliverance of quality medical care, to reduce the incidence of traumatic events and increase quality and patient safety in post-trauma care.