Why is so much clinical research ignored and what can we do about it?

Grant, Aileen; Treweek, Shaun; Wells, Mary

Abstract

The key points of this article are 1) Research evidence from clinical trials is not being translated into clinical practice in a timely manner and this represents an enormous waste of resources and missed opportunities. 2) Trials do not publish information about the context in which the intervention was implemented to allow the results to be transferred beyond the trial setting. 3) Health care professionals need contextual information to be able to make the judgement 'will it work in my setting'? 4) The outcome detected in the trial could be the treatment, elements of the context, the research process or a combination of all three. 5) Context is recognised as important but there is poor conceptualisation and no agreed definition. 6) Funding into methodological research is urgently required to address this problem and to stop wasting up to 85% of research investment.

Citation

GRANT, A., TREWEEK, S. and WELLS, M. 2016. Why is so much clinical research ignored and what can we do about it? British journal of hospital medicine [online], 77(Supp. 10), pages 554-555. Available from: https://doi.org/10.12968/hmed.2016.77.10.554

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 10, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Oct 10, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 31, 2016
• Deposit Date: Dec 15, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 11, 2017
• Journal: British journal of hospital medicine
• Print ISSN: 1750-8460
• Electronic ISSN: 1759-7390
• Publisher: Mark Allen Healthcare
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 77
• Issue: Supp. 10
• Pages: 554-555
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/hmed.2016.77.10.554
• Keywords: Clinical research; Health care professionals; Clinical practice; Context
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/2676