Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Apr;18(2):164-9.
doi: 10.4103/0974-9233.80707.

Ophthalmic research priorities and practices in Nigeria: an assessment of the views of nigerian ophthalmologists

Abdulraheem O Mahmoud  1 , Abdulkabir A Ayanniyi, Abdu Lawal, Charles O Omolase, Yinka Ologunsua, Elsie Samaila
Affiliations

Ophthalmic research priorities and practices in Nigeria: an assessment of the views of nigerian ophthalmologists

Abdulraheem O Mahmoud et al. Middle East Afr J Ophthalmol. 2011 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: To study the views of ophthalmologists on research priorities and outcomes in Nigeria.

Materials and methods: A structured questionnaire was distributed to 120 ophthalmologists and ophthalmic residents who were attending an annual congress in Nigeria. The participants' background information, relative research priorities, frequency of publications, research types, publication media, challenges faced in publishing and impact on health practice or policy were collected.

Results: Eighty-nine (74.2%) of the 120 questionnaires were returned. Childhood blindness was given the highest priority for ophthalmic research by 42.9% of the respondents, and genetic studies had the least priority (19.8%). About two-thirds of the respondents had either never been involved or only involved occasionally in any type of ophthalmic research. Clinical trials (13.1%) and basic science studies (12%) were the least-performed types of research. About 51% of the respondents indicated that they had never published in journals nor did so "occasionally"; only 9% quarterly and 43% published less than once a year. They also indicated that their research very rarely resulted in change of clinical practice or health policy (20%).

Conclusions: Research works conducted by respondents were largely simple low-budget ones that rarely had significant impacts and outcomes, including publication. There is a need to retrain and emphasize the importance of research during undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. Adequate resources and research infrastructure should be provided for ophthalmic research in Nigeria.

Keywords: Health Research Utilization; Ophthalmic Research; Ophthalmic Research Priorities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency of publications among Nigerian ophthalmologists (n = 67)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Rating of the frequency of involvement in different classes of ophthalmic research by Nigerian ophthalmologists (n = 80)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Rating of the frequency of publications in different types of media by Nigerian ophthalmologists (n = 79)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distribution of respondents by how their research resulted in changes in health policy or practice (n = 80)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Federal Republic of Nigeria: 2006 population census. Available from: http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/Connections/Pop2006.pdf. [Last accessed on 2008 Sep 22]
    1. Kyari F, Gudlavalleti MV, Sivsubramaniam S, Clare E, Gilbert CE, Abdull MM, et al. Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Study Group. Prevalence of Blindness and Visual Impairment in Nigeria: The National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey. IOVS. 2009;50:2033–9. - PubMed
    1. Mahmoud AO, Kuranga SA, Ayanniyi AA, Babata AL, Adido J, Uyanne IA. Appropriateness of ophthalmic cases presenting to a Nigerian tertiary health facility: Implications for service delivery in a developing country. Niger J Clin Pract. 2010;13:280–3. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization: WHO medicines strategy: Framework for action in essential drugs and medicine policy 2000-2003. Geneva: 2000.
    1. World Health Organization: The World Health Report: Making every mother and child count. 2005.