Warren Jennings1,2, Geoffrey Spurling1,2, Brett Shannon3,4, Noel Hayman2, Deborah Askew1,2. 1. Primary Care Clinical Unit, The University of Queensland, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Queensland. 2. Southern Queensland Centre of Excellence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care, Queensland. 3. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service, Queensland. 4. LIME Medicolegal, Queensland.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To review how published Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research reflects the geographical distribution of the Indigenous population of Australia. METHODS: Rapid review using Lowitja Institute Lit.search tool for PubMed indexed Indigenous health research papers (January 2013 to January 2018). Geographic location, participant age, study type and recruitment site were identified for each paper. RESULTS: A total of 1,258 research papers were identified: 190 (15%) focused exclusively on Indigenous people living in urban areas; 563 (45%) in rural/remote areas; and 505 (40%) spanned urban and rural/remote areas. Despite similar burdens of disease, three times as many papers were published per 1,000 DALYs for rural/remote areas than urban areas. CONCLUSIONS: Indigenous health research publications have more than doubled since 2010. However, research focusing on the health needs of urban Indigenous people remains low relative to disease burden and population. Implications for public health: More research to address the health needs of Indigenous people living in urban areas is required although this should not be at the expense of research for rural and remote areas. Increased funding quarantined for Indigenous health research, coupled with self-determination of the research agenda and reporting on the geographic representativeness of research, may help address geographical inequities in research outputs.
OBJECTIVE: To review how published Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research reflects the geographical distribution of the Indigenous population of Australia. METHODS: Rapid review using Lowitja Institute Lit.search tool for PubMed indexed Indigenous health research papers (January 2013 to January 2018). Geographic location, participant age, study type and recruitment site were identified for each paper. RESULTS: A total of 1,258 research papers were identified: 190 (15%) focused exclusively on Indigenous people living in urban areas; 563 (45%) in rural/remote areas; and 505 (40%) spanned urban and rural/remote areas. Despite similar burdens of disease, three times as many papers were published per 1,000 DALYs for rural/remote areas than urban areas. CONCLUSIONS: Indigenous health research publications have more than doubled since 2010. However, research focusing on the health needs of urban Indigenous people remains low relative to disease burden and population. Implications for public health: More research to address the health needs of Indigenous people living in urban areas is required although this should not be at the expense of research for rural and remote areas. Increased funding quarantined for Indigenous health research, coupled with self-determination of the research agenda and reporting on the geographic representativeness of research, may help address geographical inequities in research outputs.
Authors: Tamara Veselinović; Sharon A Weeks; Valerie M Swift; Deborah Lehmann; Christopher G Brennan-Jones Journal: Med J Aust Date: 2022-05-14 Impact factor: 12.776