How “usual” is usual care in mTBI intervention studies: a scoping review

The aim of this scoping review is (1) to summarize how well ‘usual care’ or 'treatment as usual' control groups are described in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)/concussion intervention studies (e.g., randomized controlled trial, non-randomized trial, observational comparative effectiveness) and (2) to evaluate the similarity of usual care across intervention studies. Results from this review will be used to inform standardized reporting guidelines for usual care in mTBI intervention studies. Such guidelines have the potential to strengthen methodological rigor and optimize the quality of these trials.