Abstract

BackgroundThe involvement of people of all ages including young people in research is now widely advocated but prioritisation of research topics is still driven largely by professional agendas. Evidence from adult literature has reported a mismatch between a researcher and patient generated list of research topics. There have been no studies to date exploring the priorities of young people with long term conditions other than in SLE. The study aimed to explore the research priorities of young people across the UK with respect to rheumatic conditions.MethodsFocus groups were undertaken with young people aged 11–24 years with rheumatic conditions recruited across the UK via members of the Barbara Ansell National Network for Adolescent Rheumatology BANNAR and relevant national charities. Data was analysed using a Framework approach. Participants discussed their beliefs about what should be researched in: Basic Science; Clinical Medicine; Health Services, Psychosocial, and Public Health. They were then invited to prioritize these areas in terms of how much funding they should receive.ResultsThirteen focus groups were held involving 63 participants (18 males: 45 females, mean age 16 years, range 10 to 24) in all four nations of the UK. Young people’s research priorities were influenced by whether they felt research would achieve benefits for all or just some patients and long or short term goals. Another influence was whether participants felt that research areas were already well funded.Across all groups, Basic Science was a key priority and participants felt that psychosocial research should be prioritized more. Health Services Research was a lower priority, as the majority of participants were happy with their care. Clinical medicine was not a high priority as young people were happy with their medication or uncomfortable with trying new ones. Finally, for nearly all groups, Public Health was a low priority. Differences were also observed between the two age groups and across the geographically diverse focus groups.ConclusionUnderstanding young people’s research priorities is important to develop research that is in tune with their needs. The results highlight the importance of considering the whole age range of adolescence and young adulthood as well as geographical diversity. The findings from this work will inform the future research of the Barbara Ansell National Network for Adolescent Rheumatology BANNAR in the UK.

Highlights

  • The involvement of people of all ages including young people in research is widely advocated but prioritisation of research topics is still driven largely by professional agendas

  • The study protocol has been published elsewhere [9]. This was a qualitative study of young people with rheumatic conditions. 16 focus groups were planned across the UK (8 with 11–15 years olds and 8 with 16–24 years olds)

  • The current study provides evidence that young people are able to articulate their views about research even if they are relatively research naïve

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Summary

Introduction

The involvement of people of all ages including young people in research is widely advocated but prioritisation of research topics is still driven largely by professional agendas. Until recently, prioritization of research topics has been led by professional agendas rather than the public’s views [5]. There may still be a risk that the limited research funding available may be directed to research topics which young people do not value as highly as researchers or adults. It is not clear whether research priority setting partnerships involving young people subsequently impact on the research agenda

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