Fostering research in pediatric interventional radiology: needs assessment and suggestions for support

Due to the rarity of pediatric diseases, collaborative research is the key to maximizing the impact of research studies. A research needs assessment survey was created to support initiatives to foster pediatric interventional radiology research.

To assess the status of pediatric interventional radiology research, identify perceived barriers, obtain community input on areas of research/education/support, and create metrics for evaluating changes/responses to programmatic initiatives.

A survey link was sent to approximately 275 members of the Society for Pediatric Interventional Radiology (SPIR) between May and October 2020. Data was collected using a web-based interface. Data collected included practice setting, clinical role, research experience, research barriers, and suggestions for future initiatives.

Fifty-nine surveys were analyzed with a staff physician survey response rate of 28% (56/198). A wide range of practice sizes from 15 countries were represented. Respondents were predominantly staff physicians (95%; 56/59) with an average of 11 years (range: 1-25 years) of clinical experience working at academic or freestanding children's hospitals. A total of 100% (59/59) had research experience, and 70% (41/58) had published research with a mean of 30 peer-reviewed publications (range: 1-200). For job security, 56% (33/59) of respondents were expected or required to publish, but only 19% (11/58) had research support staff, and 42% (25/59) had protected research time, but of those, 36% (9/25) got the time "sometimes or never." Lack of support staff, established collaborative processes, and education were identified as top barriers to performing research.

The needs assessment survey demonstrated active research output despite several identified barriers. There is a widespread interest within the pediatric interventional radiology community for collaborative research.