Importance of Research in Medical Sciences

Prof. Dr. Ram Sharan Mehta

B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences

What is Research?

• Research is the endeavor to discover new facts, procedures, methods, and techniques by the scientific study of a course of critical investigation.

• Research is a scientific study or investigation that is pursued to discover facts, revise theories or laws based on new facts and practical application of these. -webster,1992

• Basic research: necessary to generate new knowledge & technology to deal with major unsolved problems.

• Applied research: necessary to identify priority problems to design & evaluate policies & programs which will deliver greatest health benefit by using available resources.

Medical Research• Biomedical research (or experimental medicine)

is in general simply known as medical research.

• It is the basic research, applied research, or translational research conducted to aid and support the development body of knowledge in the field of medicine.

• An important kind of medical research is clinical research, which is distinguished by the involvement of patients.

• Other kinds of medical research include pre-clinical research, for example on animals, and basic medical research, for example in genetics.

• Research is vital for the progress of modern medicine and has created an ever evolving medical world.

• New discoveries are being uncovered everyday which are influencing medical practice.

• Health research has high value to society. It can provide important information about disease trends and risk factors, outcomes of treatment or public health interventions, functional abilities, patterns of care, and health care costs and use.

• crucial for comparing and improving the use of drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and diagnostics.

General purpose of research:

1.To satisfy curiosity

2.To solve problems

3.To collect facts

4.To contribute to knowledge

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Purpose of medical research

• Prevent, cure, or treat disease and related human conditions

• Make the lives of our patients better

• Medical research has been responsible for hundreds of groundbreaking discoveries that have improved and saved lives, enabled health care to become more effective and efficient, and lowered overall health care costs.

• Medical research also lowers costs by advancing treatments to chronic, debilitating diseases and improving early detection and wellness promotion.

• Decision-making approach in health care practice is a complex task and should be based on the best available level of scientific evidence.

Basis for calculating Vital Health Statistics

Basis for calculating Health Service and Coverage

Importance of Research in Medical Science

• Everybody is concerned about their health.

• It is important to almost everybody since it keeps us alive and healthy for a longer period of time.

• The life expectancy of the human being is greatly increased.

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Human life expectancy.Date Life Expectancy

Years

2000 BC 18

500 AD 22

1400 33

1790 36

1850 41

1900 50

1946 67

1991 76

AGED POPULATION

Year/Decade Over 60 yrs % Over 65 yrs %

1870 1,937 5 1,154 2.9

1880 2,822 5.6 1,723 3.4

1890 3,887 6.2 2,417 3.8

1900 4,860 6.4 3,080 4

1910 6,225 6.8 3,950 4.3

1920 7,925 7.5 4,933 4.6

1930 10,358 8.4 6,633 5.4

1940 13,694 10.4 9,019 6.8

1950 18,328 12.1 12,270 8.1

1960 23,772 13.1 16,679 9.2

1970 28,682 14.1 20,177 9.915

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• Without research, many diseases that can now be treated would cripple people or result in early death.

• New drugs, new ways to treat old and new illnesses, and new ways to prevent diseases in people at risk of developing them, can only result from health research.

• Many things that we now take for granted are the result of medical studies that have been done in the past.

• For instance, blood pressure pills, vaccines to prevent infectious diseases, transplant surgery, and chemotherapy are all the result of research.

Importance…

• It cure disease and keeps us alive longer.

• In basic level it helps to find the causes of diseases and how they spread, so that work in ways to prevent and cure it.

• Developing the treatment massive amount of research is required among the clinical trials to find out best treatment options.

Importance…• Other important areas of medical research

is diagnosis i.e. invention of diagnostic tests e.g. HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria, Kala-azar, Heart attack, cancer etc. so that early and effective diagnosis can be made.

• It improves the quality of life of the people suffering with chronic disease, e.g. HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Diabetes, Hypertension etc.

Importance…• Support in relieving the pain and suffering

e.g. Accidents, Injuries, cancer etc.

• Improves the quality of life of the geriatric people. Helps in recover form geriatric problems like hearing, vision, transplants etc.

• Support the couple having infertility: by invitro-fertilization, artificial insemination etc.

Use of Health Science research

• Uses of–Public policy

–Public health programs

– Interventions

–Partnerships

– Investigation

– Treatment

– Libraries/Publishers

Health Indicators, Part III

–Degree

–Grants

–Publications

–Public health officials

–Pharmaceuticals: drug trials

–Academics

–Anyone with an interest in public health data

Helps in find out the indicators

• Mortality indicators

• Morbidity indicators

• Fertility indicators

• Socio-economic indicators

• Health policy indicators

• Quality of life indicators

• Nutritional status indicators

• Health care delivery indicators

• Health care utilization indicators

Health Sciences Research

Non-interventional InterventionalE

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- Case study

- Case series

- Cross-sectional

- Longitudinal

- Etc.

- Cross-

sectional

- Case control

- Cohort

- Etc

- CRD

- RBD

- FD

- etc

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Note: CRD-complete random design, RBD-random block design, FD- factorial design

Relative strength of various study designs(based on level of evidence for a cause & effect

relationship)

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Strength Design

Strong Clinical trial

Cohort study

Case control study

Cross sectional

Case series

Weak Case report

Dr. R S Mehta, MSND, BPKIHS

• Scientific research plays a very important

role in our efforts to maintain health and

combating diseases.

• Research helps us create new knowledge

and develop proper tools for the use of

existing knowledge.

• Not only does it enable health care providers

to diagnose and treat diseases, research also

provides evidence for policies and decisions on health and development.

NHRC Priority Research Areas:

Research related to following aspects in the priority areas wherever applicable:

• Magnitude of the problem, prevalence, incidence, risk factors: immune status, race and genetics

• Burden of Diseases

• Etiology: agents risk factors and environmental factors, understanding pathogens

• Course: morbidity, disability, mortality, survival

Priority…

• Surveillance and early diagnosis

• Management of control program: diagnosis, outbreak and carrier management, transmission methods, case management and treatment, vector, pathogenesis, resistance to drugs

• Socioeconomic and cultural factors

• Health promotion and education, behavior change and rehabilitation

Some of the Research Completed by NHRC

• Prevalence of non-communicable disease in Nepal: Hospital based study

• Non-communicable risk factors: STEPS survey Nepal

• Epidemiological study on injury and violence in Nepal

• Others…

In Summary:

• Medical research find out health statistics, mortality and morbidity which is basis for national and local planning.

• Evidence based practice: heart of Medicine

• New inventions: Diagnostic tools and drugs

• Trial therapies for Treatments

• Evaluate the effectiveness of Programme

• Requirements for Under graduate, Graduate and post-graduate degree

In Summary…

• Community diagnosis

• Control of epidemics

• Prevention and control of diseases

• Evaluation of curative and preventive measures

• Study of natural history of diseases

• Planning & Implementation of Health Services

Dr. RS Mehta, MSND, BPKIHS 32

“The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away

from you.”

--BB King

Thank-You33Dr. R S Mehta, MSND, BPKIHS