Renal Dietitians' Self-Perceptions on Research Participation: A Pilot Study

Abstract

As health care dollars are stretched thinner, it is important that dietitians conduct outcomes-based research to validate their contributions to the health care system. To determine the barriers that prevent renal dietitians from participating in research and to determine differences between those who participated in a recent national research study and those who did not. This was a cross-sectional study conducted via e-mail. The survey was developed and distributed to members of the National Kidney Foundation's Council on Renal Nutrition. Multiple-choice questions were used to obtain data on respondent's characteristics and to identify barriers to research participation. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained from Case Western Reserve University and all participants were sent an informed consent along with the survey. Participants returned completed surveys by e-mail or fax, and all data were analyzed using SPSS 13.0 (Chicago, IL). Sixty-seven subjects completed the survey. Of these, 10 subjects had participated in a recent national research study and 57 had not. Dietitians, who had participated in the recent national study verses those who had not, did not differ significantly in descriptive data, educational level, nor general attitudes toward research. Barriers that were significantly different between the two groups included not having the time and energy for data collection (63% of those who did not participate versus 0% of those who participated) and family obligations (14% of those who did not participate versus 0% of those who participated). Comfort level in conducting subjective global assessment was higher in those who chose to participate than those who did not (86% versus 40%). The greatest barrier for dietitians who did not participate in the national research study was a lack of time and energy to collect data for research. The majority of the renal dietitians recognized the importance of research.