Barriers to research in family medicine—interviews with Portuguese family physician researchers

Abstract

Background There is a need for a deeper understanding of the barriers to research in family medicine (FM) and to consider the perceptions and perspectives of professionals. Our study aims to provide a strategic view for research capacity building in FM. We included the perspective of family physician researchers (FPR) on the existing barriers to investigation in this context. Objectives To understand and characterize the barriers to research in FM (personal and structural), from the perspective of Portuguese family physicians who are researchers. Methods A qualitative study, of phenomenological nature, was performed, through the conduction of semi-structured interviews with FPR, from 2019 to 2022. Data analysis and thematic coding were done on MAxQDA®, with inductive and deductive approaches, until data saturation was reached. Results A total of 12 family physicians/researchers were interviewed. Seven main themes were identified as barriers to research: time, professional valorization, funding, ethics committees, infrastructure, management/institutions, and participants. Each theme is divided into subthemes that make it possible to assess how a barrier can affect researchers in performing research activities. Conclusion Our study highlights the identification of 7 main barriers. Structuring them into sub-themes not only improved the organization of our results but also provided robust support for the next phase, namely the application of a survey with the aim of gaining a deeper insight into the repercussions that these barriers to FPR have at a national level. This research is crucial to laying the foundations for a policy document that offers well-defined and tailored recommendations to address the barriers we have uncovered.