1011P- DERMATOLOGY RESEARCH IN SAUDI ARABIA: A NEEDS ASSESSMENT: Dr I Hoqail

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The paper identifies gaps in dermatological research in Saudi Arabia by review of published literature and questionnaire survey of dermatologists interested in research as shown by their research track. No reliable data are available on the incidence, prevalence of skin diseases since they are not given any special attention in official statistical reports by the Ministry of Health. The impression of clinical practitioners is that skin disorders are a common cause of medical consultations. However very little is known about these disorders due to limited research. Al Aboud et al (2004) reported results of analysis of dermatological publications in Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the period 1966-2004 by searching medline using pubmed. A total of 140 publications were found with Saudi Arabia publishing the most followed by Kuwait. They recommended a better research infrastructure. The paper recommends measures to improve dermatological research.

Methods: A total of … articles were retrieved from the pubmed database using the key words ‘dermatology’, ‘skin’, and ‘Saudi Arabia’. After removing irrelevant articles, the remaining …. Articles were categorized in the following categories: clinical presentation, etiology, and therapy. The articles were further categorized according to the author (Saudi or non-Saudi), nature (review, letter, case report), study design (cross sectional, follow up, quasi experimental, and randomized), journal of publication (international, regional, or local). Cross tabulations of the various categories were made and the results were interpreted. Further analysis was confined to publications that can be categorized as research using criteria of a good research (see Table #1).  In addition a questionnaire on opinions of researchers about the adequacy of the research efforts was sent to….. dermatologists whose emails were obtained from publications or from directories of departments of dermatology in hospitals and universities.  

Results: Only … of …. Publications could be considered research involving testing an identifiable scientific hypothesis. Most of the publications were case reports of rare or unusual conditions.

Conclusions, discussion, and recommendations

It is difficult to compare the quantity and quality of in different countries because of many confounders. A pubmed search of selected western, middle eastern, African countries using the same key words and adjusting for differences in population size and per capita income revealed……

1.0  INTRODUCTION

2.0 METHODS

2.1 Literature Search

2.2 Questionnaire

3.0 RESULTS

3.1 Statistical Results of the literature search

3.2 Substantive Results of the Literature Review

3.3 results from the questionnaire

4.0 |CONCLUSIONS, DISCUSSIONS, and RECOMMENDATIONS

TABLE #1: CRITERIA OF ASSESSING RESEARCH ARTICLES

Criterion	Operative Definition	Comment

TABLE #2: CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLISHED REPORTS

Journal	First Author	Review	Letter	Case Report / Series	Research epidemiological	Research Etiological	Research Therapeutic	Other
International	Saudi
	Non-Saudi
Regional	Saudi
	Non-Saudi
Saudi	Saudi
	Non-Saudi

TABLE #3 CLINICAL PRESENTATIONS

Journal	Single Case	Case Series	Incidence / follow up	Prevalence / cross section	TOTAL
International
Regional
Saudi
TOTAL

TABLE #4 ETIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Journal	Anecdotal/ case eport	Cross sectional	Case Control	Follow up	Quasi experimental	Randomized Trials	TOTAL
International
Regional
Saudi
TOTAL

TABLE #5 THERAPEUTIC RESEARCH

International	Anecdotal / case report	Quasi experimental	Randomized trial	Laboratory	Follow up	TOTAL
Regional
Saudi
TOTAL

TABLE #6 QUALITY OF LIFE RESEARCH

Journal	Anecdotal/ case eport	Cross sectional	Case Control	Follow up	Quasi experimental	Randomized Trials	TOTAL
International
Regional
Saudi
TOTAL

TABLE #7 COMMONEST DISEASES CITED IN PUBLICATIONS

Disorder	Review	Letter	Case Report / Series	Research epidemiological	Research Etiological	Research Therapeutic

TABLE #8 BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF RESPONDENTS

Nationality & gender	Place of Practice		Professional Appointment		Years of experience		Research publications in past 5 years
	Public	Private	Consultant	Other	0-5	6 and above
Saudi male
Saudi female
Non Saudi male
Non Saudi female
TOTAL

TABLE #9: OPINIONS ABOUT DERMATOLOGY RESEARCH IN KSA

(Likert scale    )

Disease group	Research			Publication			Books	Conferences
	Epidemiology	Etiology	Therapy	Epidemiology	Etiology	Therapy

TABLE #10: OPINIONS ABOUT BARRIERS TO DERMATOLOGY RESEARCH

(Likert scale: High, Intermediate, Low)

Barrier	Magnitude	Potential of a Solution	Efforts already  taken

TABLE #11: OPINIONS ON OCCURRENCE, SEVERITY, and PUBLIC HEALTH SIGNIFICANCE OF VARIOUS SKIN DISORDERS

Disorder	Prevalence / occurrence	Severity	Public Health Importance