Dissemination of research fndings to participants by investigators at The Ampath research Ppogram, Eldoret, Kenya.

Abstract

Researchers have a professional and ethical obligation to ensure that research findings are disseminated to research participants, as well as other stakeholders. In a climate of increasing distrust of research, dissemination of findings may help to foster trust in researchers and in research as an institution. Studies have shown that only 20% of investigators disseminate findings back to research participants. Investigators affiliated to the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) have conducted research since 1989, with over 359 publications up to date and over 72 ongoing studies currently. No specific information on dissemination to research participants was available in this setting. The broad objective was to describe the dissemination practices of investigators at the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH). The specific objectives were to determine the proportion of investigators who disseminate findings to research participants, describe the methods used by these investigators and assess the factors that influence dissemination to research participants. This was a cross sectional, descriptive, quantitative study conducted at the AMPATH Research Program. An online semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 136 investigators between May and November 2015. Analysis was done using standard statistical package for analysis and computing (R Core, 2015). Association between categorical variables and the binary outcome variable (explicit dissemination to research participants) were assessed using Fisher’s exact test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant in all analyses. The covariates that were significant in the bivariate level were included in a logistic regression model to assess their effect on the outcome. We reported the odds ratios and the corresponding 95% confidence limits. In general, 113 AMPATH investigators (91.1%, 95% CI: 84.7, 95.5) disseminated their research findings. The most commonly used method of dissemination was through scientific conferences/workshops 61 (49.6%). Of all the participants that took the survey, 77 (62.1%, 95% CI: 53.4, 70.8) disseminated findings specifically to the research participants. The most commonly used method to participants was through community meetings/events 59 (48%). The factors that influence dissemination to research participants at AMPATH are allocation of budget to dissemination activities (p=0.032), presence of a dissemination plan (p=0.005), external study funding (p=0.047) and submission of dissemination related materials to IREC (p=0.008). Investigators at AMPATH have a higher dissemination rate to research participants (62.1%) compared to investigators in Sudan and the United States that had a prevalence of 20%. Scientific conferences/workshops were the most commonly used dissemination method. Factors associated with dissemination to research participants were mostly found to be study related rather than individual investigator characteristics. AMPATH should ensure investigators conducting research under the institution build dissemination to research participants into their protocols. IREC should check for the presence of a dissemination plan and adequate budgetary provision for dissemination during the review of protocols prior to approving them. AMPATH should strengthen their frameworks and provide support to investigators of self-sponsored studies to ensure dissemination to research participants.