Surgical clinical trials—need for international collaboration

Abstract

With a growing burden of surgical procedures and very large numbers of patients, Chinese surgeons should have an important role in seeking consensus on global strategies through participation in international collaboration.1Soreide K Alderson D Bergenfelz A et al.Strategies to improve clinical research in surgery through international collaboration.Lancet. 2013; 382: 1140-1151Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (55) Google Scholar However, many obstacles are hindering their enthusiasm for joint studies, including considerable extra workload in clinical research besides a heavy clinical burden, difficulties in participant enrolment due to the deteriorated doctor–patient relationship, language barriers, and limited opportunities to communicate and cooperate with international colleagues.We appeal to health administrators in China for an increased awareness of the importance of collaborative research and for supportive policies. For instance, appropriate assessment of the achievement of these research collaborations is an important issue. The present academic evaluation system in China recognises and rewards the position of first and corresponding authors for published studies, and the contributions of other participants tend to be neglected. Hence, how to encourage the active participation of more surgeons in future international research collaboration is an issue worthy of discussion for health policy makers in China and worldwide.We declare that we have no conflict of interest. With a growing burden of surgical procedures and very large numbers of patients, Chinese surgeons should have an important role in seeking consensus on global strategies through participation in international collaboration.1Soreide K Alderson D Bergenfelz A et al.Strategies to improve clinical research in surgery through international collaboration.Lancet. 2013; 382: 1140-1151Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (55) Google Scholar However, many obstacles are hindering their enthusiasm for joint studies, including considerable extra workload in clinical research besides a heavy clinical burden, difficulties in participant enrolment due to the deteriorated doctor–patient relationship, language barriers, and limited opportunities to communicate and cooperate with international colleagues. We appeal to health administrators in China for an increased awareness of the importance of collaborative research and for supportive policies. For instance, appropriate assessment of the achievement of these research collaborations is an important issue. The present academic evaluation system in China recognises and rewards the position of first and corresponding authors for published studies, and the contributions of other participants tend to be neglected. Hence, how to encourage the active participation of more surgeons in future international research collaboration is an issue worthy of discussion for health policy makers in China and worldwide. We declare that we have no conflict of interest. Strategies to improve clinical research in surgery through international collaborationMore than 235 million patients undergo surgery every year worldwide, but less than 1% are enrolled in surgical clinical trials—few of which are international collaborations. Several levels of action are needed to improve this situation. International research collaborations in surgery between developed and developing countries could encourage capacity building and quality improvement, and mutually enhance care for patients with surgical disorders. Low-income and middle-income countries increasingly report much the same range of surgical diseases as do high-income countries (eg, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and the surgical sequelae of metabolic syndrome); collaboration is therefore of mutual interest. Full-Text PDF