Lancet wijdt serie aan tekortschietend biomedisch onderzoek

Het medische tijdschrift The Lancet wijdt een serie van vijf artikelen aan het probleem dat biomedisch onderzoek vaak niks oplevert. “How to increase value and reduce waste”, vraagt het tijdschrift zich af.

In de eerste drie stukken staan onderzoeksprioriteiten, management van onderzoek en het design van onderzoek centraal. Om te beginnen leidt heel veel biomedisch onderzoek helemaal niet tot resultaten die de volksgezondheid bevorderen. “The increase in annual global investment in biomedical research—reaching US$240 billion in 2010—has resulted in important health dividends for patients and the public. However, much research does not lead to worthwhile achievements, partly because some studies are done to improve understanding of basic mechanisms that might not have relevance for human health. Additionally, good research ideas often do not yield the anticipated results. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62229-1/abstract

Regelgeving
Het management van en regelgeving omtrent onderzoek leidt ook tot verspilling: “After identification of an important research question and selection of an appropriate study design, waste can arise from the regulation, governance, and management of biomedical research. Obtaining regulatory and governance approval has become increasingly burdensome and disproportionate to the conceivable risks to research participants. Regulation and governance involve interventions that are assumed to be justified in the interests of patients and the public, but they can actually compromise these interests. Inefficient management of the procedural conduct of research is wasteful, especially if it results in poor recruitment and retention of participants in well designed studies addressing important questions.” http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62227-8/abstract

Design
Het ontwerp, uitvoering en analyse van wetenschappelijke studies kan vaak beter. “Correctable weaknesses in the design, conduct, and analysis of biomedical and public health research studies can produce misleading results and waste valuable resources. […] Reward systems incentivise quantity more than quality, and novelty more than reliability.” http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62297-7/abstract

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