Respondent Ratings of Frequency of Encountering Problems with the Reporting of Primary Care Research
| Question* | R† | Never N (%) | Sometimes N (%) | About Half the Time N (%) | Most of the Time N (%) | Always N (%) | Summary: About half the time or more N (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Overall, how often does the reporting of primary care research cause problems for your work* | |||||||
| 198 | 6 (3) | 118 (59.6) | 51 (25.8) | 20 (10.1) | 3 (1.5) | 74 (37.4) | |
| B. How often do reports of primary care research make it difficult for you to:* | |||||||
| Assess the generalizability/transportability of the findings to my patients, practice or community | 198 | 5 (2.5) | 110 (55.6) | 43 (21.7) | 38 (19.2) | 2 (1) | 83 (41.9) |
| Identify specific actions that apply to primary care patient care/practice | 200 | 10 (5) | 109 (54.5) | 41 (20.5) | 37 (18.5) | 3 (1.5) | 81 (40.5) |
| Apply the findings to primary care policy | 189 | 6 (3.2) | 86 (45.5) | 54 (28.6) | 37 (19.6) | 6 (3.2) | 97 (51.3) |
| Apply the findings to primary care education | 194 | 6 (3.1) | 114 (58.8) | 44 (22.7) | 23 (11.9) | 7 (3.6) | 74 (38.1) |
| Apply the findings to further primary care research | 193 | 17 (8.8) | 116 (60.1) | 36 (18.7) | 20 (10.4) | 4 (2.1) | 60 (31.1) |
| Replicate research findings | 168 | 6 (3.6) | 79 (47) | 37 (22) | 39 (23.2) | 7 (4.2) | 83 (49.4) |
| Synthesize findings across studies | 188 | 3 (1.6) | 76 (40.4) | 53 (28.2) | 47 (25) | 9 (4.8) | 109 (58.0) |
| C. How often have you found reporting to be insufficient for these different types of primary care research? * | |||||||
| Randomized Controlled Trials | 164 | 6 (3.7) | 87 (53.1) | 37 (22.6) | 29 (17.7) | 5 (3.1) | 71 (43.3) |
| Qualitative studies | 170 | 9 (5.3) | 77 (45.3) | 63 (37.1) | 15 (8.8) | 6 (3.5) | 84 (49.4) |
| Cohort studies | 171 | 6 (3.5) | 100 (58.5) | 45 (26.3) | 17 (9.9) | 3 (1.8) | 65 (38) |
| Mixed methods studies | 163 | 4 (2.5) | 84 (51.5) | 46 (28.2) | 26 (16) | 3 (1.8) | 75 (46) |
| Single arm intervention trials | 145 | 5 (3.5) | 75 (51.7) | 35 (24.1) | 24 (16.5) | 6 (4.1) | 65 (44.8) |
| Systematic Reviews | 169 | 12 (7.1) | 104 (61.5) | 34 (20.1) | 14 (8.3) | 5 (3) | 53 (31.4) |
| Meta-analysis | 164 | 15 (9.2) | 93 (56.7) | 25 (15.2) | 24 (14.6) | 7 (4.3) | 56 (34.1) |
| Case study research | 146 | 15 (10.3) | 84 (57.5) | 21 (14.4) | 20 (13.7) | 6 (4.1) | 47 (32.2) |
| Surveys | 158 | 13 (8.2) | 80 (50.6) | 35 (22.2) | 23 (14.6) | 7 (4.4) | 65 (41.1) |
| D. In general, how often is the reporting of primary care research problematic in these areas?* | |||||||
| Potential conflicts of interest of researchers/authors | 158 | 27 (17.1) | 102 (64.6) | 18 (11.4) | 9 (5.7) | 2 (1.3) | 29 (18.4) |
| Role of funders in research and reporting | 163 | 30 (18.4) | 98 (60.1) | 18 (11) | 16 (9.8) | 1 (0.6) | 35 (21.5) |
| Authorship and relative contributions of research team members | 157 | 30 (19.1) | 82 (52.2) | 27 (17.2) | 15 (9.6) | 3 (1.9) | 45 (28.7) |
| Ethical conduct of research and institutional approval | 163 | 67 (41.1) | 84 (51.5) | 7 (4.3) | 4 (2.5) | 1 (0.6) | 12 (7.4) |
| E. How often do you see problems with the reporting of these components of primary care research?* | |||||||
| Purpose and context of the research question | 166 | 15 (9) | 103 (62.1) | 37 (22.3) | 10 (6) | 1 (0.6) | 48 (28.9) |
| Theoretical underpinnings of the research | 162 | 5 (3.1) | 70 (43.2) | 50 (30.9) | 34 (21) | 3 (1.9) | 87 (53.7) |
| Selection of the clinical sites, clinicians or study locations | 161 | 11 (6.8) | 78 (48.5) | 43 (26.7) | 26 (16.2) | 3 (1.9) | 75 (46.6) |
| Description of place/setting of research | 160 | 18 (11.3) | 80 (50) | 34 (21.3) | 25 (15.6) | 3 (1.9) | 62 (38.8) |
| Selection of the patients/subjects/participants | 163 | 11 (6.8) | 90 (55.2) | 40 (24.5) | 20 (12.3) | 2 (1.2) | 62 (38) |
| Description of patients/subjects/participants | 162 | 12 (7.4) | 93 (57.4) | 38 (23.5) | 17 (10.5) | 2 (1.2) | 57 (35.2) |
| Description of control/comparison groups | 161 | 11 (6.8) | 99 (61.5) | 33 (20.5) | 18 (11.2) | 0 (0) | 51 (31.7) |
| Definition of the health problems/conditions under study | 161 | 16 (9.9) | 110 (68.3) | 25 (15.5) | 9 (5.6) | 1 (0.6) | 35 (21.7) |
| Description of interventions | 162 | 13 (8) | 101 (62.4) | 32 (19.8) | 15 (9.3) | 1 (0.6) | 48 (29.6) |
| Description of usual care | 161 | 9 (5.6) | 74 (46) | 41 (25.5) | 32 (19.9) | 5 (3.1) | 78 (48.4) |
| Description of clinicians/providers | 163 | 8 (4.9) | 79 (48.5) | 46 (28.2) | 23 (14.1) | 7 (4.3) | 76 (46.6) |
| Description of teams, roles and organization of care | 161 | 4 (2.5) | 71 (44.1) | 48 (29.8) | 33 (20.5) | 5 (3.1) | 86 (53.4) |
| Qualitative methods | 159 | 6 (3.8) | 96 (60.4) | 42 (26.4) | 13 (8.2) | 2 (1.3) | 57 (35.8) |
| Measurement tools used | 160 | 10 (6.3) | 96 (60) | 42 (26.3) | 11 (6.9) | 1 (0.6) | 54 (33.8) |
| Randomization including allocation concealment | 148 | 8 (5.4) | 100 (67.6) | 25 (16.9) | 13 (8.8) | 2 (1.4) | 40 (27) |
| Blinding procedure | 154 | 7 (4.6) | 97 (63) | 33 (21.4) | 15 (9.7) | 2 (1.3) | 50 (32.5) |
| Analysis methods – statistical | 158 | 9 (5.7) | 108 (68.4) | 32 (20.2) | 8 (5.1) | 1 (0.6) | 41 (25.9) |
| Analysis methods – qualitative | 155 | 4 (2.6) | 98 (63.2) | 40 (25.8) | 12 (7.7) | 1 (0.7) | 53 (34.2) |
| Analysis methods – mixed methods | 151 | 5 (3.3) | 88 (58.3) | 43 (28.5) | 14 (9.3) | 1 (0.7) | 58 (38.4) |
| Reporting effect sizes | 153 | 5 (3.3) | 72 (47.1) | 49 (32) | 26 (17) | 1 (0.7) | 76 (49.7) |
| Reporting uncertainty bands (e.g. confidence intervals) | 152 | 11 (7.2) | 95 (62.5) | 34 (22.4) | 11 (7.2) | 1 (0.7) | 46 (30.3) |
| Synthesis methods in systematic reviews or meta-analysis | 143 | 6 (4.2) | 90 (62.9) | 34 (23.8) | 12 (8.4) | 1 (0.7) | 47 (32.9) |
| Study registration | 135 | 18 (13.3) | 80 (59.3) | 22 (16.3) | 14 (10.4) | 1 (0.7) | 37 (27.4) |
| Relationship between researchers and patients/participants | 145 | 11 (7.6) | 69 (47.6) | 38 (26.2) | 26 (17.9) | 1 (0.7) | 65 (44.8) |
| Involvement of pts/communities, others the research process | 148 | 6 (4.1) | 64 (43.2) | 38 (25.7) | 36 (24.3) | 4 (2.7) | 78 (52.7) |
Online survey October 2018 to 2019.
↵* Answers were on a five-point Likert scale with frequency measures. Responses were not compulsory to move forward in the survey.
↵† R = 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 (Study n = 255) – Respondents Answering.
In each section, items are listed in rank order by percent, not in order of presentation on the questionnaire.