Improving National Health Research Systems Performance: The Case of Research Production and Use in Cameroon

Abstract

Background: Efficient national health research systems (NHRS) generate knowledge to improve health outcomes while accounting for local health system specificities. African NHRS have a limited capacity to generate such knowledge; and rely on global or external sources of evidence which require adaptation. However, systematic, timely and comprehensive identification of local evidence needed for adaptation is challenging. Thus, the objectives of this study are to develop a centralized database of health research from Cameroon and test its applicability for informing future research production and use.

Methods: We used an evidence mapping design. From October 2018 to May 2019, we searched 10 electronic databases and hand searched the archives of non-indexed African and Cameroonian journals. We screened titles, abstracts, and full texts based on these criteria: peer reviewed journal articles; published between 1999 and 2019; in English or French; investigating health-related outcomes in Cameroon. We extracted relevant study characteristics using a pre-established guide. We developed a coding scheme to label studies and ease searches on the database. Studies were coded independently by two reviewers and discrepancies resolved by consensus. We used the database to create evidence maps and identify knowledge gaps on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) priorities.

Results: We included 4384 studies. Most were open access (76.3%); published in English (79.7%); conducted in the Centre region (45%) with an observational design (71.6%). The domains with the highest frequency were medical specialties (89.0%), and diseases (80.4%). The most researched specialty, diseases and population were infectiology, infectious diseases, and children respectively. Our gap maps revealed: (1) geographic and demographic disparities in the local evidence on adolescents’ contraceptive use (2) gaps in the type of local evidence needed for contextualisation and policymaking on obstetric fistula.

Conclusion: Local evidence mapping and gap analysis can contribute to improving national research production and use in decision-making.