Reporting of Patient And Public Involvement (PPI) In Clinical Trials Published In Three Leading Nursing Science Journals: A Scientiometric Study
Abstract Background: Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in identifying research questions, designing trials, and collecting, interpreting, and publishing results may positively affect the relevance, quality and impact of research. The extent of patient and public involvement in nursing clinical trials has not been previously studied. Methods: A Scientiometric study of PPI in clinical trials published in three leading nursing science journals. Randomised controlled clinical trials published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies, the Journal of Clinical Nursing, and the Journal of Advanced Nursing between January and April 2021 were identified by searching the SCOPUS database. Journal author guidelines were also review. Data were extracted against the five items of the Guidance for Reporting Involvement of Patients and the Public (GRIPP2) reporting checklist. Results: None of the journals required authors to include a patient and public involvement statement in submitted papers or to thank participants in the acknowledgement section of the paper. We included 23 randomised controlled clinical trials, of which half were conducted in Europe and 12 were supported by external grants. Authors thanked participants in the acknowledgement section often (43%) trials. There was no statement or evidence of patient and public involvement in any of the included trials.Conclusion: There was no evidence of PPI in trials published in nursing science journals. Researchers, funders, and journals need to collaborate to change cultural expectations to ensure that PPI is an emended part of clinical research.