Setting priorities for pediatric research: an exercise for the research agenda of the Hospital Infantil de Mexico Federico Gomez

ABSTRACT

Background. There is a clear understanding of the need to establish the principles that should underlie health research to meet the goals of health care systems. The aim of this study was to conduct an exercise of priority setting for health research and to analyze the congruence between the perceived priorities and the primary causes of hospital care at Hospital Infantil de Mexico Federico Gomez (HIMFG). Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with investigators affiliated with the HIMFG through a semi-structured and self-applied questionnaire. A technique of priority setting developed by the World Health Organization was used for the exercise. Concurrently, the analysis included the ongoing research projects at HIMFG and their relative position according to the list of the main causes of mortality, hospital discharges, ambulatory consultations, number of published scientific papers and funding. Results. Of 104 invited researchers, 55 responded to the questionnaire; 43.7% belonged to the National System of Investigators (SNI). Most research studies were within the biomedical area followed by clinical trials. The top research priorities were infectious and parasitic diseases. The main causes of hospital care were chronic conditions such as cancer and congenital malformations. We observed moderate congruence between health research priorities and the epidemiology of the hospital. Conclusion. It is possible to carry out institutional priority settings for health research. The priorities set by the investigators were partially in accordance with the actual provision of care; however, further activities to gain the commitment of researchers to participate and to include other interested parties are necessary to strengthen this exercise.