Top 10 Research Priorities for Eating Disorders
For which topic were research priorities identified?
eating disorders
In which location was the research priority setting conducted?
Europe - Netherlands
Why was it conducted at all?
Eating disorders can be associated with substantial and prolonged physical and psychosocial morbidity. The causes of eating disorders are incompletely understood. New treatments are being developed and tested but progress is slow because of insufficient research funding. It is therefore imperative that research funds are directed to the questions that are important to those aff ected.
What was the objective?
to define the research agenda for eating disorders
What was the outcome?
a ranking list of 10 research questions
How long did the research prioritization take?
February 2015 - June 3 2016
Which methods were used to identify research priorities?
JLA method
How were the priorities for research identified exactly?
Step 1: setting up PSP: stakeholders and partner organizations identified. Step 2: collecting research questions: 956 submissions. Step 3: data processing: submissions collated, grouped into themes, indicative research questions generated, check against evidence. Step 4: interim ranking: via survey, list of 77 indicative research questions, participants were asked to select all questions they viewed as a high priority for research and then asked to rank these into a top ten, top 22 questions (each mentioned by more than 100 participants) taken forward. Step 5: final prioritization: workshop: series of small group discussions and rankings
Which stakeholders took part?
Individuals with or recovered from an eating disorder, their families and clinicians involved in the treatment of eating disorders. Survey: 412 participants: 340 patients with an eating disorder. Interim ranking: 375 participants. Workshop: patients, carers, clinicians.
How were stakeholders recruited?
Participants were recruited via a large Dutch e-community for eating disorders Proud2BMe, the Dutch patient and carer organization WEET, and the Dutch Academy for Eating Disorders.
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.