Barriers and motivators experienced by South Asian primary care physicians in conducting research

Research in primary healthcare is vital for improving clinical practices, health outcomes, and policy effectiveness. Despite recognizing its importance and willingness to conduct it many general practitioners face barriers in doing it.

Our study aimed to understand the challenges in conducting research and identify factors that motivate research culture among primary care physicians in South Asia.

Descriptive cross-sectional study is conducted among practicing primary care physicians in several South Asian countries. The online survey forms were emailed and shared on professional social media platforms. Data analysis was done using SPSS software version 23.0. Descriptive analysis such as frequency and percentages were calculated. For categorical data chai square was applied.

Out of the 155 participants, 62% had participated in research training sessions. However, less than one-fifth of the participants had published research articles at least once in the past two years. The main obstacles were lack of mentorship (72%), insufficient training (66%), lack of technical or statistical support (65%), and financial constraints (59%). The primary motivators were to update knowledge (63%) and to improve the quality of care (61%). We did observe a significant negative correlation (p=0.02) between the number of years in practice and the motivation to conduct research.

Most primary care physicians recognize the value of research. However, obstacles such as a lack of mentorship, formal training, and financial support hinder their research efforts. The motivating factors we identified could be used to inspire more primary care physicians to engage in research.