Barriers of conducting and completing research in Pakistan among doctors: A cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Objectives: To identify the barriers encountered while conducting and completing research among doctors in Pakistan.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2023 to March 2024 to identify research barriers among medical doctors working in different hospitals of Pakistan. All graduated doctors who at least had six months of postgraduate clinical experience were included. Participants who provided incomplete response or refused to participate were excluded. The data was collected on pre-designed questionnaire. The survey consisted of demographics, information about research experience and publications and perception about research barriers. P-value <0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Out of 1,000 doctors included for study, only 380 of them responded to the survey with a response rate of 38%. The mean age of all participants was 29.3 ± 7.3. Almost 58% of the participants were female. Almost 62.6% of the participants considered lack of training as the main barrier in conducting research, followed by inadequate financial support (53.1%), inadequate support from institute (53.1%), inadequate support from mentors (48.1%), lack of statistical work support (47.3%), insufficient time (45.5%) and difficulty in obtaining ethical approval (30.7%). There was statistically significant association found for inadequate financial support barrier between participants who had research publication and who did not (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: The lack of training and inadequate financial and institutional support is identified as main barriers for conduction and completion of research in Pakistan among doctors.

Keywords: Pakistan; Physicians; Publications; Research; Research and development.