Gaps between research and public health priorities in low income countries: evidence from a systematic literature review focused on Cambodia

Implementation Science

Hubert Barennes²  Arnaud Tarantola⁵  Roger Frutos⁴  Thomas Fassier¹  Sovannchhorvin SamAn³  Por Ir⁶  Socheat Touch³  Sophie Goyet⁵ 

[1] University of Health Sciences of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia;Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le VIH et Hépatite, ANRS, Phnom Penh, Cambodia;School of Public Health, National Institute of Public Health, Phnom Penh, Cambodia;Intertryp, UMR 17, IRD-Cirad, Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, 34398, France;Epidemiology and Public Health Unit, Institut Pasteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia;Health System Research and Policy Support Unit, National Institute of Public Health, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

关键词: Cambodia;    Asia;    Non-communicable disease;    LMICs;    Developing countries;    Knowledge translation;    Research;    Public health;    Health system strengthening;    Health;   

Others  :  1139264
DOI  :  10.1186/s13012-015-0217-1

 received in 2014-09-04, accepted in 2015-02-05,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Evidence-based public health requires that research provides policymakers with reliable and accessible information reflecting the disease threats. We described the scientific production of research in Cambodia and assessed to what extent it provides appropriate insights and implications for practice to guide health policymakers and managers and knowledge relevant for translation.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of scientific articles published on biomedical research in Cambodia. Regression analysis assessed the trends over time and factors associated with actionable messages in the articles’ abstracts.

Results

From 2000 to 2012, 628 articles were published in 237 journals with a significant increase over time (from 0.6/million population to 5.9/million population, slope coefficient 7.6, 95% CI 6.5–8.7, p < 0.001). Most publications on diseases addressed communicable diseases (n = 410, 65.3%). Non-communicable diseases (NCD) were under-addressed (7.7% of all publications) considering their burden (34.5% of the disease burden). Of all articles, 67.8% reported descriptive studies and 4.3% reported studies with a high level of evidence; 27.4% of studies were led by an institution based in Cambodia. Factors associated with an actionable message (n = 73, 26.6%) were maternal health (OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.55–6.13, p = 0.001), the first author’s institution being Cambodian (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.06–2.98, p = 0.02) and a free access to full article (OR 3.07, 95% CI 1.08–8.70, p = 0.03). Of all articles, 87% (n = 546) were accessible in full text from Cambodia.

Conclusions

Scientific publications do not fully match with health priorities. Gaps remain regarding NCD, implementation studies, and health system research. A health research agenda would help align research with health priorities. We recommend 1) that the health authorities create an online repository of research findings with abstracts in the local language; 2) that academics emphasize the importance of research in their university teaching; and 3) that the researcher teams involve local researchers and that they systematically provide a translation of their abstracts upon submission to a journal. We conclude that building the bridge between research and public health requires a willful, comprehensive strategy rather than relying solely only publications.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Goyet et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

【 图 表 】

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