Practice-Based Research Agenda Priorities Selected by Patients: Findings from a Dental Practice-Based Research Network

For which topic were research priorities identified?

dental practice

In which location was the research priority setting conducted?

Asia - Japan

Why was it conducted at all?

It has been noted that involving patients in health research may provide opportunities to produce research that is valid, relevant, accepted, sustainable and innovative. Although not derived from PBRN research activities, Brocklehurst et al. conducted a study which allowed older people to prioritise the research agenda to improve their own oral health, reporting that the top three research priorities identified were: to identify ‘best practice' in the prevention and treatment of oral diseases for older people; to identify the training needs for the dental profession; and to understand the key issues for older people from their perspective. However, to our knowledge, no previous research has attempted to identify and quantify such a research agenda by engaging a wide range of age groups and gender.

What was the objective?

to identify which practice-based research agendas has the highest priority among patients

What was the outcome?

a ranking list of 31 research topics

How long did the research prioritization take?

February 2016 - July 2016

Which methods were used to identify research priorities?

survey

How were the priorities for research identified exactly?

Step 1: pilot study to develop survey items, participants were asked to describe what kind of practice-based research questions they are most interested in, 62 questions submitted, categorized into 31 items. Step 2: survey: participants were asked to select 3 of the 31 research topics they were most interested in

Which stakeholders took part?

Patients. Participants: 482 patients from 11 outpatient dental clinics.

How were stakeholders recruited?

Participants were recruited via the 11 dental clinics of JDPBRN which were recruited from the JDPBRN website and mailings and are located in the Hokkaido, Kanto, Chubu, Kansai and Kyushu regions.

Were stakeholders actively involved or did they just participate?

Stakeholders were mere participants of the research prioritization process; they were not actively involved in the process.