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Current research does not address patient, physician priorities

Study findings in Research Involvement and Engagement show discrepancies between what medical research focuses on and what physicians and patients consider to be important therapies.

Researchers compared 126 treatments deemed significant by physicians, patients and caregivers with treatments being explored in clinical trials in the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2011. This included 1,682 research studies, of which 53% were non-commercial and 47% were commercially-funded.

Drug interventions accounted for 18% of treatments prioritized by physicians, patients and caregivers whereas they accounted for 37% of treatments studied in non-commercial trials and 86% of treatments studied in commercial trials.

Approximately 2.6% of registered commercial trials studied non-drug therapies that were prioritized by physicians and patients

“We have confirmed earlier, less extensive studies indicating important mismatches between what patients and health professionals want to see researched, and the research that is actually done. On average, patients and clinicians prefer the evaluation of non-drug treatments, while researchers tend to prioritize studies into drug treatments,” study researcher Iain Chalmers, MD, of the Cochrane Collaboration, said in a press release.

The study findings suggest that there may be “methodological disincentives” for researchers to include non-drug treatments in clinical trials, according to researchers. Designing, conducting and interpreting drug trials is typically be more straightforward than evaluating psychological or physical therapies, thus making it easier to conduct drug trials.

Another explanation for these discrepancies may be that users of research evidence (ie, physician, patients and caregivers) rarely contribute to establishing research agendas.

“If research is to reflect the priorities of patients and clinicians, leadership and incentives will be needed. The current ‘research system’ and culture is not geared to bridging the mismatch we have documented,” the researchers wrote.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.