Prioritising primary care respiratory research needs: results from the 2020 International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) global e-Delphi exercise

Arwa Abdel-Aal; Karin Lisspers; Siân Williams; Peymané Adab; Rachel Adams; Dhiraj Agarwal; Amanda Barnard; Izolde Bouloukaki; Job F M van Boven; Niels Chavannes; Andrew P Dickens; Frederik van Gemert; Mercedes Escarrer; Shamil Haroon; Alex Kayongo; Bruce Kirenga; Janwillem W H Kocks; Daniel Kotz; Chris Newby; Cliodna McNulty; Esther Metting; Luis Moral; Sophia Papadakis; Hilary Pinnock; David Price; Dermot Ryan; Sally J Singh; Jaime Correia de Sousa; Björn Ställberg; Stanley J Szefler; Stephanie J C Taylor; Ioanna Tsiligianni; Alice Turner; David Weller; Osman Yusuf; Aizhamal K Tabyshova; Rachel E Jordan

doi:10.1038/s41533-021-00266-4

Prioritising primary care respiratory research needs: results from the 2020 International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) global e-Delphi exercise

NPJ Prim Care Respir Med. 2022 Jan 28;32(1):6. doi: 10.1038/s41533-021-00266-4.

Authors

Arwa Abdel-Aal¹, Karin Lisspers², Siân Williams³, Peymané Adab⁴, Rachel Adams⁴, Dhiraj Agarwal⁵, Amanda Barnard⁶, Izolde Bouloukaki⁷, Job F M van Boven⁸, Niels Chavannes⁹, Andrew P Dickens⁴, Frederik van Gemert⁸, Mercedes Escarrer^{10

11}, Shamil Haroon⁴, Alex Kayongo¹², Bruce Kirenga¹², Janwillem W H Kocks¹³, Daniel Kotz¹⁴, Chris Newby¹⁵, Cliodna McNulty¹⁶, Esther Metting⁸, Luis Moral¹⁷, Sophia Papadakis¹⁸, Hilary Pinnock¹⁹, David Price^{20

21}, Dermot Ryan¹⁹, Sally J Singh²², Jaime Correia de Sousa²³, Björn Ställberg², Stanley J Szefler²⁴, Stephanie J C Taylor²⁵, Ioanna Tsiligianni¹⁸, Alice Turner⁴, David Weller¹⁹, Osman Yusuf²⁶, Aizhamal K Tabyshova²⁷, Rachel E Jordan²⁸

Affiliations

¹ Academy of Primary Care, University of Hull York Medical School, York, UK.
² Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
³ Joint Chief Executive Officer, International Primary Care Respiratory Group, London, UK.
⁴ Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁵ Vadu Rural Health Program, KEM Hospital Research Centre, Pune, India.
⁶ Charles Strut University and Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
⁷ University of Crete, Medical School, Heraklion, Greece.
⁸ University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
⁹ Leiden University Medical Center, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ Spanish Pediatric Society of Clinical Immunology, Asthma and Allergy, Valencia, Spain.
¹¹ Pediatric Allergy Service, Clinica Juaneda, Majorca, Spain.
¹² Makerere University Lung Institute, Kampala, Uganda.
¹³ General Practitioners Research Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands.
¹⁴ Institute of General Practice, Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
¹⁵ Medical School, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
¹⁶ Primary Care and Interventions Unit, Gloucester, Public Health England, Gloucester, UK.
¹⁷ Alicante University General Hospital, Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (ISABIAL), Alicante, Spain.
¹⁸ Department of Social Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
¹⁹ Allergy and Respiratory Group, Usher institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
²⁰ Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore.
²¹ Centre of Academic Primary Care, Division of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
²² Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
²³ University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
²⁴ Paediatrics-Pulmonary Medicine, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA.
²⁵ Institute of Population Health Sciences, Barts and the London School of Medicine, Queen Mary, University of London, London, UK.
²⁶ The Allergy and Asthma Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan.
²⁷ National Center of Cardiology and Internal Medicine, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
²⁸ Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. [email protected].

Abstract

Respiratory diseases remain a significant cause of global morbidity and mortality and primary care plays a central role in their prevention, diagnosis and management. An e-Delphi process was employed to identify and prioritise the current respiratory research needs of primary care health professionals worldwide. One hundred and twelve community-based physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals from 27 high-, middle- and low-income countries suggested 608 initial research questions, reduced after evidence review by 27 academic experts to 176 questions covering diagnosis, management, monitoring, self-management and prognosis of asthma, COPD and other respiratory conditions (including infections, lung cancer, tobacco control, sleep apnoea). Forty-nine questions reached 80% consensus for importance. Cross-cutting themes identified were: a need for more effective training of primary care clinicians; evidence and guidelines specifically relevant to primary care, adaption for local and low-resource settings; empowerment of patients to improve self-management; and the role of the multidisciplinary healthcare team.

MeSH terms

Asthma*
Consensus
Exercise
Humans
Primary Health Care
Respiratory Tract Diseases* / diagnosis
Respiratory Tract Diseases* / therapy