Pascal Iloh G U, Amadi A N, Iro O K, Agboola S M, Aguocha G U, Chukwuonye M E
Department of Family Medicine, Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
Department of Public Health, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria.
Niger J Clin Pract. 2020 Feb;23(2):129-137. doi: 10.4103/njcp.njcp_284_18.
Health research is an essential component of medical training, education, and practice and is fundamental in establishing the scientific basis of health care. Aim: The study was aimed at describing the attitude, practice, benefits, and barriers towards health research and publications in a cross-section of medical practitioners in Abia State, Nigeria.
This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out on 210 medical practitioners in Abia State. Data collection was done using pretested, self-administered questionnaire that elicited information on attitude, practice, benefits, and barriers toward health research. Awareness of research misconduct, types of published research articles, and factors considered in selection of journals for publication of research were also studied.
The age of the participants ranged from 26 to 77 years. There were 173 (82.4%) men. The overall attitude toward research was moderate (x = 5.02 ± 0.96). All the respondents (100%) were involved in undergraduate research projects while 72 (34.3%) had at least one journal publication with the most commonly published articles being descriptive studies. The commonest barriers to research were financial and time constraints while the greatest benefits of research were advancement of medical knowledge and keeping practitioners abreast with evidence-based medicine. The commonest research misconduct was plagiarism while the most common factor considered in selection of journals for publication was article publication charges. Middle age group and years of practice more than 10 years were significantly associated with publication of journal articles (P < 0.05).
This study has shown that the study participants had moderate positive attitude toward research with all the participants previously involved in undergraduate research and only one third had at least one journal publications. The commonest barriers were financial and time constraints and greatest benefits of health research was advancement of medical knowledge and keeping practitioners abreast with evidence-based medicine. Choice of journal for publications is preeminently determined by article publication charges. The most common article published and research misconduct was descriptive studies and plagiarism, respectively.
健康研究是医学培训、教育和实践的重要组成部分，也是建立医疗保健科学基础的根本所在。目的：本研究旨在描述尼日利亚阿比亚州部分执业医师对健康研究及发表论文的态度、实践情况、益处和障碍。
这是一项对阿比亚州210名执业医师开展的横断面描述性研究。数据收集采用预先测试的自填式问卷，该问卷可获取有关对健康研究的态度、实践情况、益处和障碍的信息。同时还研究了对研究不当行为的认知、已发表研究文章的类型以及选择研究发表期刊时考虑的因素。
参与者年龄在26至77岁之间。男性有173人（82.4%）。对研究的总体态度适中（x = 5.02 ± 0.96）。所有受访者（100%）都参与过本科研究项目，而72人（34.3%）至少有一篇期刊论文发表，最常发表的文章类型是描述性研究。研究最常见的障碍是资金和时间限制，而研究最大的益处是医学知识的进步以及使执业医师紧跟循证医学的步伐。最常见的研究不当行为是抄袭，选择期刊发表文章时最常考虑的因素是文章发表费用。中年组和执业年限超过10年与期刊文章发表显著相关（P < 0.05）。
本研究表明，研究参与者对研究持适度积极态度，所有参与者此前都参与过本科研究，只有三分之一的人至少有一篇期刊论文发表。最常见的障碍是资金和时间限制，健康研究最大的益处是医学知识的进步以及使执业医师紧跟循证医学的步伐。选择发表期刊主要由文章发表费用决定。最常发表的文章类型和研究不当行为分别是描述性研究和抄袭。
