title: Research Capacity at Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Centers in China: A Survey of Clinical Investigators.
abstract: Background.The development of an evidence-based approach to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which depends on the generation of good quality evidence, requires an adequate workforce. However, the research capacity of TCM investigators is not known.Study Design.This cross-sectional study was conducted to describe the research capacity of TCM clinical investigators in China.Participants.A total of 584 participants from TCM hospitals and research centers were included. They were asked about the academic and research characteristics, needs for research capacity building, and barriers to clinical research.Results.The majority (80.82%) were qualified to at least a Master's degree, whilst a smaller proportion (40.24%) held a senior professional title. We found that academic outputs were low with the majority (62.16%) authoring less than five publications in total. The most pressing needs for building research capacity identified were training in research methodology (97.43%) and identification of research questions (86.81%), whilst the highest ranking barriers to conducting research were limited motivation, funding (40.72%), and time (37.15%).Conclusion.The methodology training, along with investment in the research workforce, needs to be urgently addressed to improve investigators' research capacity and the development of an evidence-based approach of TCM.
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North Sanhuan East Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9155-4652
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North Sanhuan East Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Primary Care and Population Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Aldermoor Health Centre, Aldermoor Close, Southampton, Hampshire SO16 5ST, UK.
authors.forename: Lily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Science and Technology Division, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People's Republic of China, 1 Gongti West Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100027, China.
authors.forename: Si-Cheng
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 North Sanhuan East Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0320-061X
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Liu