Clinical Research Skills Assessment: An Investigation into the Determinants of Effective Research.

Mohamad Altannir,Fatimah Al Mousawi,Isamme Alfayyad,Amani Abu-Shaheen,Ahmed Al-Badr

doi:10.7759/cureus.1870

Abstract

BackgroundDeveloping individual research skills and enhancing the institutional research culture leads to quality research capabilities and research excellence at the national level. We aim to assess the educational needs of healthcare providers regarding research skills at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.MethodsFrom February 2016 to October 2016, we conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire of the healthcare providers at KFMC. The questionnaire targeted staff who have not been involved in research (n=353; “category-1”), staff who received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval (n=94; “category-2”), and staff who have completed and published their research (n=53; “category-3”). A descriptive analysis was used to measure the frequency, and the chi-square test was used to test significance when comparing categorical data.ResultsThe final analysis contained 500 questionnaires. The number of women was higher than that of men in “category-2 “and “category-3” (53.2%, 62.3%), respectively. Approximately 62.4% of “category-1” participants reported good, poor, and very poor knowledge of epidemiology. Participants in “category-1” and “category-2” stated poor and very poor levels when writing a manuscript (43%, 23.4%), respectively. Only 37% of participants in “category-3” showed very good to excellent research skills. However, there was a significant correlation between the mean scores of research skill and research stage (p-value < 0.001).ConclusionThe results showed a significant variation in research skills needs among research stage categories; therefore, meeting the educational needs of healthcare providers aimed at effective research shall be constructed based on their stage of research.

Highlights

There was an increasing focus to boost health research and evidence-based practice to achieve the national health goals, primarily in developing countries
The results showed a significant variation in research skills needs among research stage categories; meeting the educational needs of healthcare providers aimed at effective research shall be constructed based on their stage of research
The development of research capacity is primarily based on the development of individual research skills and the enhancement of institutional research culture, which leads to quality research capacity and research excellence at the national level [3]

Summary

Introduction

There was an increasing focus to boost health research and evidence-based practice to achieve the national health goals, primarily in developing countries. A robust health research system is significant for an efficient health system [1]. The development of research capacity is primarily based on the development of individual research skills and the enhancement of institutional research culture, which leads to quality research capacity and research excellence at the national level [3]. An appraisal of the research skills of developing researchers has shown that some significant research skills are essential for competence in conducting research. Developing individual research skills and enhancing the institutional research culture leads to quality research capabilities and research excellence at the national level. We aim to assess the educational needs of healthcare providers regarding research skills at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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