Prioritisation of Research Questions about Maternal Birth Injuries

For which topic were research priorities identified?

maternal birth injuries

In which location was the research priority setting conducted?

Europe - Sweden

Why was it conducted at all?

Which research questions about maternal birth-related injuries should be given priority, in the opinion of women who have suffered childbirth-related injuries and healthcare personnel working in this field? SBU (The Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services) was commissioned by the government to facilitate prioritisation of questions within this field. Women with birth-related injuries and healthcare personnel were invited to collaborate in prioritising relevant research questions.

What was the objective?

to stimulate relevant research and well-conducted studies into questions which are regarded as of particularly high priority

What was the outcome?

a ranking list of 48 research questions

How long did the research prioritization take?

No information provided.

Which methods were used to identify research priorities?

JLA method

How were the priorities for research identified exactly?

Step 1: collecting research questions: survey: participants were asked to suggest research questions in ten categories. Step 2: working groups were established, each working group comprised 14 participants, half of whom were healthcare personnel and the other half were women who had personal experience of childbirth- related injury. Step 3: interim ranking: working group participants individually selected their ten most important research questions from the list of questions which had been submitted, questions ranking highest (between 20 and 25 questions) moved forward to workshop. Step 4: five workshop: working group participants collectively reasoned their way through to a final top 10 list

Which stakeholders took part?

Survey: 939 participants. Working group: 64 participants: healthcare personnel (midwives, doctors, physiotherapists, urotherapists, registered nurses) and women who had experienced birth-related injuries during delivery.

How were stakeholders recruited?

Participants in the working groups were recruited by an open interest notification on the SBU website.

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.