Positive Health Online

Abstract

TALLON, CHARD and DIEPPE, Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, UK described the relation between agendas of the research community and the research consumer.

Background

Previous studies have suggested that research agendas can be biased. In this report the authors investigated whether there was a mismatch between available research evidence.

Methodology

The authors examined the research on interventions for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint by searching published and unpublished studies on interventions in this condition to assess the structure of the evidence base. Focus groups and a postal survey of research consumers were then undertaken to examine their views and research priorities.

Results

The review showed that the evidence base was dominated by studies of pharmaceutical (550, 59%), and surgical (238, 26%) interventions. 24 (36%) of 67 survey respondents ranked knee replacements as the highest priority for research, whereas 14 (21%) chose education and advice as their first choice.

Conclusion

The authors state that there is a mismatch between the amount of published work on different interventions, and the degree of interest of consumers. They conclude that if this mis-match is not addressed, then evidence-based medicine will not be representative of consumer needs.

References

Tallon D et al. Relation between agendas of the research community and the research consumer. Lancet 355;(9220): 2037-40. 10 Jun 2000.