Knowledge translation is everybody's business

Abstract

Successful application of research outcomes into routine healthcare practice rarely occurs as an immediate result of their publication [1]. A much-cited example is the 40-year delay in the British Navy’s adoption of vitamin C for the prevention of scurvy, despite substantial evidence of benefit from the first ever controlled trial conducted by James Lind in the 1770s [2]. The delayed adoption of research outcomes is often referred to as the evidence-practice gap [3]. Whilst science has moved on in the 200+years since Lind’s study, the gap still persists, contributing to inefficient use of resources and avoidable mortality and morbidity. The more recent 10-year delay in the adoption of prenatal corticosteroids to prevent preterm birth despite unequivocal but under- collated evidence, is estimated to have cost the lives of tens of thousands of babies [4]. Similar ‘gaps’ have been shown with the translation of basic science results into clinical practice [5,6].