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Top research priorities in liver and gallbladder disorders in the UK
Kurinchi S Gurusamy1, Martine Walmsley2, Brian R Davidson1
1Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK.
Insights
This study identified the top 10 research priorities for non-alcohol-related liver and gallbladder disorders. Patient and clinician input guided the identification of crucial areas needing further medical research.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology and Gastroenterology
- Medical Research Prioritization
Background:
- A significant gap exists between patient-important research questions and actual medical research in liver and gallbladder disorders.
- The Non-Alcohol-Related Liver and Gallbladder Disorders Priority Setting Partnership aimed to address this by identifying key research needs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish the top 10 research priorities for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of liver and gallbladder disorders.
- To align medical research with the needs and concerns of patients, carers, and healthcare professionals.
Main Methods:
- Followed James-Lind Alliance (JLA) principles for priority setting.
- Utilized a modified Delphi consensus process for final prioritization, deviating from traditional consensus workshops.
- Identified 428 unique research questions, confirming none were fully answered by existing high-quality systematic reviews.
Main Results:
- Six research questions achieved consensus (≥80% agreement) as top priorities from the Delphi panel.
- An additional four questions, highly ranked by the panel, were included to form the top 10 research priorities.
- All identified questions require further investigation, spanning basic, translational, clinical, and public health research.
Conclusions:
- A consensus-driven list of the top 10 research priorities for non-alcohol-related liver and gallbladder disorders has been established.
- This prioritized list, informed by patients and healthcare professionals, will guide future research efforts.
- Addressing these priorities requires comprehensive research across multiple scientific domains.
Objectives:
There is a mismatch between research questions considered important by patients, carers and healthcare professionals and the research performed in many fields of medicine. The non-alcohol-related liver and gallbladder disorders priority setting partnership was established to identify the top research priorities in the prevention, diagnostic and treatment of gallbladder disorders and liver disorders not covered by the James-Lind Alliance (JLA) alcohol-related liver disease priority setting partnership.
Design:
The methods broadly followed the principles of the JLA guidebook. The one major deviation from the JLA methodology was the final step of identifying priorities: instead of prioritisation by group discussions at a consensus workshop involving stakeholders, the prioritisation was achieved by a modified Delphi consensus process.
Results:
A total of 428 unique valid diagnostic or treatment research questions were identified. A literature review established that none of these questions were considered 'answered' that is, high-quality systematic reviews suggest that further research is not required on the topic. The Delphi panel achieved consensus (at least 80% Delphi panel members agreed) that a research question was a top research priority for six questions. Four additional research questions with highest proportion of Delphi panel members ranking the question as highly important were added to constitute the top 10 research priorities.
Conclusions:
A priority setting process involving patients, carers and healthcare professionals has been used to identify the top 10priority areas for research related to liver and gallbladder disorders. Basic, translational, clinical and public health research are required to address these uncertainties.
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