Bright Oliver-John M, Wang Ding Ding, Shams-White Marissa, Bleich Sara N, Foreyt John, Franz Marion, Johnson Guy, Manning Beth Trickett, Mattes Rick, Pi-Sunyer Xavier, Schneeman Barbara, Parrott James Scott, Steffen Dan, Sylvetsky Allison, Ziegler Paula, Chung Mei
Nutrition and Infection Unit, Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.
Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.
Curr Dev Nutr. 2017 Jun 8;1(7):e000547. doi: 10.3945/cdn.117.000547. eCollection 2017 Jul.
In a world of finite research funding, efforts to prioritize future research topics are increasingly necessary. The aim of this study was to identify and prioritize the direction of future research in the broad area of low-calorie sweetener (LCS) intake and potentially related health outcomes by using a novel method that incorporates evidence mapping in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Future Research Needs (FRN) process. A diverse expert stakeholder panel was convened and engaged to identify research gaps and prioritize future research needs. An independent research team hosted a number of interactive webinars and elicited feedback through surveys and individual interviews with the stakeholder panel, which included policymakers, lay audience members, health providers, a research funder, individuals with food industry experience, and researchers of several different specialties. The stakeholder panel generated and ranked a list of 18 FRN questions across 5 broad research areas. Overall, stakeholder panel members unanimously agreed that the research questions that will have the largest public health impact are those that address outcomes related to body weight, appetite, and dietary intake. Although the LCSs included in this FRN project have all been Generally Recognized as Safe by the FDA or approved as food additives, the recurrent concerns and confusions with regard to the "safety" of LCSs by consumers underscore the importance of communicating the science to the general public. Our project provides evidence that engaging a diverse expert stakeholder panel is an effective method of translating gaps in nutrition research into prioritized areas of future research.
在研究资金有限的情况下，确定未来研究课题的优先顺序变得愈发必要。本研究旨在通过采用一种新颖的方法来确定低热量甜味剂（LCS）摄入及潜在相关健康结果这一广泛领域未来研究的方向并对其进行优先排序，该方法将证据图谱纳入医疗保健研究与质量局的未来研究需求（FRN）流程。我们召集了一个多元化的专家利益相关者小组，让其参与确定研究差距并对未来研究需求进行优先排序。一个独立的研究团队举办了多次互动网络研讨会，并通过调查以及与利益相关者小组的个人访谈来征求反馈意见，该小组包括政策制定者、普通民众、医疗服务提供者、研究资助者、具有食品行业经验的个人以及多个不同专业的研究人员。利益相关者小组提出并对5个广泛研究领域的18个FRN问题进行了排序。总体而言，利益相关者小组成员一致认为，对公共卫生影响最大的研究问题是那些涉及与体重、食欲和饮食摄入相关结果的问题。尽管本FRN项目中包含的低热量甜味剂均已被美国食品药品监督管理局普遍认为是安全的或被批准为食品添加剂，但消费者对低热量甜味剂“安全性”反复出现的担忧和困惑凸显了向公众传播相关科学知识的重要性。我们的项目证明，召集一个多元化的专家利益相关者小组是将营养研究中的差距转化为未来研究优先领域的有效方法。
