van Hoving D J, Brysiewicz P
Division of Emergency Medicine, Stellenbosch University, PO Box 241, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.
School of Nursing & Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Afr J Emerg Med. 2017 Mar;7(1):9-14. doi: 10.1016/j.afjem.2017.01.003. Epub 2017 Jan 28.
Emergency care research in Africa is not on par with other world regions. The study aimed to assess the perceptions and practices towards research among current emergency care providers in Africa.
A survey was sent to all individual members of the African Federation of Emergency Medicine. The survey was available in English and French.
One hundred and sixty-eight responses were analysed (invited n = 540, responded n = 188, 34.8%, excluded n = 20). Responders' mean age was 36.3 years (SD = 9.1); 122 (72.6%) were male, 104 (61.9%) were doctors, and 127 (75.6%) were African trained. Thirty-seven (22%) have never been involved in research; 33 (19.6%) have been involved in ⩾5 research projects. African related projects were mostly relevant to African audiences (n = 106, 63.1%). Ninety-four (56%) participants have never published. Forty-one (24.4%) were not willing to publish in open access journals requesting a publication fee; 65 (38.7%) will consider open access journals if fees are sponsored. Eighty responders (47.6%) frequently experienced access block to original articles due to subscription charges. Lack of research funding (n = 108, 64.3%), lack of research training (n = 86, 51.2%), and lack of allocated research time (n = 76, 45.2%) were the main barriers to research involvement. Improvement of research skills (n = 118, 70.2%) and having research published (n = 117, 69.6%) were the top motivational factors selected. Responders agreed that research promotes critical thinking (n = 137, 81.5%) and serve as an important educational tool (n = 134, 80.4%). However, 134 (79.8%) feel that emergency care workers need to be shown how to use research to improve clinical practice. Most agreed that insufficient emergency care research is being conducted in Africa (n = 113, 67.3%).
There is scope to increase research involvement in emergency care in Africa, but solutions need to be find to address lack of research-related funding, training and time.
非洲的急诊护理研究水平不及世界其他地区。本研究旨在评估非洲当前急诊护理提供者对研究的看法和实践。
向非洲急诊医学联合会的所有个人成员发送了一份调查问卷。该问卷有英文和法文两种版本。
共分析了168份回复（邀请人数n = 540，回复人数n = 188，回复率34.8%，排除人数n = 20）。回复者的平均年龄为36.3岁（标准差= 9.1）；122人（72.6%）为男性，104人（61.9%）为医生，127人（75.6%）在非洲接受培训。37人（22%）从未参与过研究；33人（19.6%）参与过≥5个研究项目。与非洲相关的项目大多针对非洲受众（n = 106，63.1%）。94名（56%）参与者从未发表过文章。41人（24.4%）不愿意在需要支付发表费用的开放获取期刊上发表文章；65人（38.7%）如果发表费用得到资助，会考虑开放获取期刊。80名回复者（47.6%）经常因订阅费用而无法获取原始文章。缺乏研究资金（n = 108，64.3%）、缺乏研究培训（n = 86，51.2%）和缺乏分配的研究时间（n = 76，45.2%）是参与研究的主要障碍。提高研究技能（n = 118，70.2%）和发表研究成果（n = 117，69.6%）是被选中的首要激励因素。回复者一致认为研究能促进批判性思维（n = 137，81.5%）并作为一种重要的教育工具（n = 134，80.4%）。然而，134人（79.8%）认为需要向急诊护理人员展示如何利用研究来改善临床实践。大多数人同意非洲目前进行的急诊护理研究不足（n = 113，67.3%）。
非洲在增加急诊护理研究参与度方面仍有空间，但需要找到解决研究相关资金、培训和时间不足问题的办法。
