Barriers to Clinical Research in Latin America

Abstract

Enhancing health research capacity in developing countries is a global health priority. Understanding the orthopedic burden of disease in Latin America will require close partnership between more-developed and less-developed countries. To this end, the Osteosynthesis and Trauma Care Foundation assembled a research consortium of Latin-American orthopedic leaders. Prior to the meeting, we surveyed attendees on perceived barriers to conducting research at their institutions. During the event, working groups discussed these barriers, developed strategies for addressing them, and planned future steps for collaboration. The participants established the need for global relationships that allow colleagues from Latin America to access to training and established investigational infrastructure of North American centers to address research questions relevant to their communities. As a result of the discussion, the International Orthopaedic Multicenter Study (INORMUS) in Fracture Care was initiated. Since then, an expanded international working group, Associación de Cirujanos Traumatológicos en las Americas (ACTUAR), has been created with the purpose of promoting increased global partnership for research capacity development.

Current State of Diabetes Mellitus Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, and Control in Latin America: Challenges and Innovative Solutions to Improve Health Outcomes Across the Continent

“…In addition, the growing prevalence of diabetes mellitus across LatAm and the complexity of the disease suggest opportunities to create or strengthen collaborations towards its prevention and early detection [141][142][143][144]. For example, multinational and multidisciplinary researchpublic health-health care policy-clinical care partnerships which already exist in formal or informal platforms may be well-positioned to evaluate the impact of nutrition, health insurance, housing, and other public policies [79,141,143,[145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154] on health outcomes and assess their potential translation into preventive strategies at the public health and clinical care levels.…”

From Sea to Shining Sea and the Great Plains to Patagonia: A Review on Current Knowledge of Diabetes Mellitus in Hispanics/Latinos in the US and Latin America

“…Insufficient institutional (government, academic, etc.) interest or commitment, lack of public awareness on the importance of prevention, insufficient financial and human resources, and political issues are some of the challenges faced across the continent ( 442 – 444 ). Whereas out of the scope of this review, proposed models of an international collaborative initiative ( 442 ) and of an implementation cycle and a translatability scale for identifying and implementing effective solutions to address the rising burden of chronic diseases in low-middle income countries, specifically CVD ( 444 ), might set the stage for future type 2 DM prevention initiatives in the continent.…”

Quick-DASH as a main early outcome of humeral shaft fractures: A Latin American multicenter prospective study

“…On the other hand, its main limitation was the loss of patients during follow-up. Difficulties in clinical research that are usually found in this region 18 contributed to the fact that, from the 123 patients included in the demographic and clinical study, 6 it was only possible to complete the protocol with 92 patients. Due to specific problems in some countries, it was not possible to follow-up all patients for 90 days, as stated in the study protocol.…”