[Danish research within the field of anesthesia and intensive medicine. Problems and visions]

Danish anaesthesiology research has traditionally done well internationally. However, there are signs that the research activity is declining. The aim of this article is both to appraise the status of the development of research in anaesthesiology and to discuss the problems that face Danish anaesthesiology research.

The development of research is assessed from the bibliometric literature based on the number of publications in journals that use a peer review of the articles, the total international exposure, the absolute impact of citations, and finally the proportion of publications cited at least once.

Unlike countries with which we usually compare ourselves, both the total level of research activity and the amount of international exposure of research have been declining in Denmark over the past 10-15 years. However, the quality of the research appears to be improving.

On the background of debates within the speciality--e.g. at various meetings and workshops--the author discusses the reasons for and impact of the declining level of research activity. An account is given for what is being done within the speciality to promote research, and tangible proposals are put forward with a view to promoting research activity further at different levels in the Danish Health Service. Finally, attention is drawn to the three most important challenges facing Danish anaesthesiology research in the coming years, namely the shortage of specialist practitioners, the new medical paradigm shift, and the bibliometric methods used for research evaluation.