Areas of Primary Care Research Reports Where Respondents Encounter Problems “about Half or More of the Time”
| Question* | Respondents Answering† | Encounter Problems†‡ N (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Overall, how often does the reporting of PC research cause problems for your work? | 198 | 74 (37.4) |
| How often do reports of primary care research make it difficult for you to: | ||
| Synthesize findings across studies | 188 | 109 (58.0) |
| Apply the findings to primary care policy | 189 | 97 (51.3) |
| Replicate research findings | 168 | 83 (49.4) |
| Assess the generalizability/transportability of the findings to my patients, practice or community | 198 | 83 (41.9) |
| Identify specific actions that apply to primary care patient care/practice | 200 | 81 (40.5) |
| Apply the findings to primary care education | 194 | 74 (38.1) |
| Apply the findings to further primary care research | 193 | 60 (31.1) |
| How often have you found reporting to be insufficient for these different types of PC research? | ||
| Qualitative studies | 170 | 84 (49.4) |
| Mixed-methods studies | 163 | 75 (46) |
| Single-arm intervention trials | 145 | 65 (44.8) |
| Randomized controlled trials | 164 | 71 (43.3) |
| Surveys | 158 | 65 (41.1) |
| Cohort studies | 171 | 65 (38) |
| Meta-analysis | 164 | 56 (34.1) |
| Case study research | 146 | 47 (32.2) |
| Systematic reviews | 169 | 53 (31.4) |
| In general, how often is the reporting of PC research problematic in these areas? | ||
| Authorship and relative contributions of research team members | 157 | 45 (28.7) |
| Role of funders in research and reporting | 163 | 35 (21.5) |
| Potential conflicts of interest of researchers/authors | 158 | 29 (18.4) |
| Ethical conduct of research and institutional approval | 163 | 12 (7.4) |
| How often do you see problems with the reporting of these components of PC research? | ||
| Theoretical underpinnings of the research | 162 | 87 (53.7) |
| Description of teams, roles, and organization of care | 161 | 86 (53.4) |
| Involvement of patients, communities, others in the research process | 148 | 78 (52.3) |
| Reporting effect sizes | 153 | 76 (49.7) |
| Description of usual care | 161 | 78 (48.4) |
| Description of clinicians/providers | 163 | 76 (46.6) |
| Selection of the clinical sites, clinicians, or study locations | 161 | 75 (46.6) |
| Relationship between researchers and patients/participants | 145 | 65 (44.8) |
| Description of place/setting of research | 160 | 62 (38.8) |
| Analysis methods—mixed methods | 151 | 58 (38.4) |
| Selection of the patients/subjects/participants | 163 | 62 (38) |
| Qualitative methods | 159 | 57 (35.8) |
| Description of patients/subjects/participants | 162 | 57 (35.2) |
| Analysis methods—qualitative | 155 | 53 (34.2) |
| Measurement tools used | 160 | 54 (33.8) |
| Synthesis methods in systematic reviews or meta-analysis | 143 | 47 (32.9) |
| Blinding procedure | 154 | 50 (32.5) |
| Description of control/comparison groups | 161 | 51 (31.7) |
| Reporting uncertainty bands (eg, CIs) | 152 | 46 (30.3) |
| Description of interventions | 162 | 48 (29.6) |
| Purpose and context of the research question | 166 | 48 (28.9) |
| Study registration | 135 | 37 (27.4) |
| Randomization including allocation concealment | 148 | 40 (27) |
| Analysis methods—statistical | 158 | 41 (25.9) |
| Definition of the health problems/conditions under study | 161 | 35 (21.7) |
| Description of interventions | 162 | 48 (29.6) |
| Purpose and context of the research question | 166 | 48 (28.9) |
| Study registration | 135 | 37 (27.4) |
| Randomization including allocation concealment | 148 | 40 (27) |
| Analysis methods—statistical | 158 | 41 (25.9) |
| Definition of the health problems/conditions under study | 161 | 35 (21.7) |
PC, primary care; CI, confidence interval.
Online survey October 2018 to 2019.
See Appendix 3 for more detailed results.
In each section, items are listed in rank order by percent, not in order of presentation on the questionnaire.
↵* Answers were on a five-point Likert scale with frequency measures. Responses were not compulsory to move forward in the survey.
↵† For each question, “Respondents Answering,” is the number of survey respondents who answered the question with Likert scale scores. “NA/Not Sure” responses are combined with no answers and are not shown. They total 255 – Respondents Answering.
↵‡ “About half or more than half of the time.”