Scoping review of existing funding sources for DCM research: opportunities and challenges for targeting the AO Spine RECODE-DCM research priorities (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM) is a common, disabling condition of symptomatic cervical spinal cord compression that requires significant research advances to improve patient outcomes. AO Spine RECODE-DCM recently identified the top research priorities for DCM. To effectively address these priorities, appropriate funding of DCM research is essential. OBJECTIVE This review characterises current funding in DCM research to consider its significance and highlight future opportunities. METHODS A systematic review of Web of Science for “cervical” AND “myelopathy” was conducted. Papers exclusively studying DCM, with declared funding, and published between January 1, 1995 and March 21, 2020 were considered eligible. Funding sources were classified by country of origin and organisation type. A grant search was also conducted using Dimensions.ai (Digital Science Ltd, London, United Kingdom). RESULTS A total of 621 papers were included, with 300 unique funding bodies. The top funders were AO Spine (n=87), National Institutes of Health, USA (n=63) and National Natural Science Foundation, China (n=63). The USA (n=242) funded the most DCM research, followed by China (n=209) and Japan (n=116). Funding in the USA was primarily provided by corporate or non-profit organisations (60.3%); in China, by institutions (99.5%). Dimensions.ai data showed 180 DCM research grants explicitly awarded, with a total value of US$45.6 million since 1996. CONCLUSIONS DCM funding appears to be predominantly from USA, China and Japan, aligning with areas of high DCM research activity and underpinning the importance of funding to increasing research capacity. The existing funding sources differ from medical research in general, representing opportunities for future investment in DCM.

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Walk and Run Test in Patients with Degenerative Compression of the Cervical Spinal Cord

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10050927 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 927

Author(s):

Zdenek Kadanka ◽

Tomas Skutil ◽

Eva Vlckova ◽

Josef Bednarik

Keyword(s):

Cervical Spinal Cord ◽

Japanese Orthopaedic Association ◽

Cord Compression ◽

Cervical Cord ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Severity Of Disability ◽

Degree Of Disability ◽

Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy ◽

Cardinal Symptoms ◽

Run Test

Impaired gait is one of the cardinal symptoms of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) and frequently its initial presentation. Quantitative gait analysis is therefore a promising objective tool in the disclosure of early cervical cord impairment in patients with degenerative cervical compression. The aim of this cross-sectional observational cohort study was to verify whether an objective and easily-used walk and run test is capable of detecting early gait impairment in a practical proportion of non-myelopathic degenerative cervical cord compression (NMDCC) patients and of revealing any correlation with severity of disability in DCM. The study group consisted of 45 DCM patients (median age 58 years), 126 NMDCC subjects (59 years), and 100 healthy controls (HC) (55.5 years), all of whom performed a standardized 10-m walk and run test. Walking/running time/velocity, number of steps and cadence of walking/running were recorded; analysis disclosed abnormalities in 66.7% of NMDCC subjects. The DCM group exhibited significantly more pronounced abnormalities in all walk/run parameters when compared with the NMDCC group. These were apparent in 84.4% of the DCM group and correlated closely with disability as quantified by the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale. A standardized 10-m walk/run test has the capacity to disclose locomotion abnormalities in NMDCC subjects who lack other clear myelopathic signs and may provide a means of classifying DCM patients according to their degree of disability.

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The RCCM 2009 Survey: Mapping Doctoral and Postdoctoral CAM Research in the United Kingdom

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1093/ecam/nep184 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2011 ◽

pp. 1-4 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Nicola Robinson ◽

George Lewith

Keyword(s):

Research Capacity ◽

Research Quality ◽

Research Assessment ◽

Full Time ◽

Research Activity ◽

High Quality Research ◽

Strategic Approach ◽

Rigorous Research ◽

The Usa ◽

The Uk

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is widely available in the UK and used frequently by the public, but there is little high quality research to sustain its continued use and potential integration into the NHS. There is, therefore, a need to develop rigorous research in this area. One essential way forward is to train and develop more CAM researchers so that we can enhance academic capacity and provide the evidence upon which to base strategic healthcare decisions. This UK survey identified 80 research active postgraduates registered for MPhils/PhDs in 21 universities and were either current students or had completed their postgraduate degree during the recent UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2001–2008. The single largest postgraduate degree funder was the university where the students registered (26/80). Thirty-two projects involved randomized controlled trials and 33 used qualitative research methods. The UK RAE also indicates a significant growth of postdoctoral and tenured research activity over this period (in 2001 there were three full time equivalents; in 2008 there were 15.5) with a considerable improvement in research quality. This mapping exercise suggests that considerable effort is currently being invested in developing UK CAM research capacity and thus inform decision making in this area. However, in comparative international terms UK funding is very limited. As in the USA and Australia, a centralized and strategic approach by the National Institute of Health Research to this currently uncoordinated and underfunded activity may benefit CAM research in the UK.

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Research activity amongst DCM research priorities

Acta Neurochirurgica ◽

10.1007/s00701-021-04767-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ben Grodzinski ◽

Harry Bestwick ◽

Faheem Bhatti ◽

Rory Durham ◽

Maaz Khan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽

Research Priorities ◽

Predictors Of Outcome ◽

Research Activity ◽

The Past ◽

Research Priority ◽

Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy

Abstract Introduction Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. DCM is common (estimated prevalence, 2% of adults) and significantly impacts quality of life. The AO Spine RECODE-DCM (Research Objectives and Common Data Elements in DCM) project has recently established the top research priorities for DCM. This article examines the extent to which existing research activity aligns with the established research priorities. Methods A systematic review of MEDLINE and Embase for “Cervical” AND “Myelopathy” was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Full-text papers in English, exclusively studying DCM, published between January 1, 1995 and August 08, 2020 were considered eligible. Extracted data for each study included authors, journal, year of publication, location, sample size and study design. Each study was then analysed for alignment to the established research priorities. Results In total, 2261 papers with a total of 1,323,979 patients were included. Japan published more papers (625) than any other country. Moreover, 2005 (89%) of 2261 papers were aligned to at least one research priority. The alignment of papers to the different research priorities was unequal, with 1060 papers on the most researched priority alone (#15, predictors of outcome after treatment), but only 64 total papers on the least-researched 10 priorities. The comparative growth of research in the different priorities was also unequal, with some priorities growing and others plateauing over the past 5 years. Discussion Research activity in DCM continues to grow, and the focus of this research remains on surgery. The established research priorities therefore represent a new direction for the field.

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Lessons From Recruitment to an Internet-Based Survey for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Comparison of Free and Fee-Based Methods (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.6567 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Benjamin Davies ◽

Mark Kotter

Keyword(s):

Health Survey ◽

Cervical Myelopathy ◽

Cervical Spinal Cord ◽

Cord Compression ◽

Recruitment Strategy ◽

The Internet ◽

Recruitment Strategies ◽

Large Numbers ◽

Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy ◽

Click Through Rate

BACKGROUND Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM) is a syndrome of subacute cervical spinal cord compression due to spinal degeneration. Although DCM is thought to be common, many fundamental questions such as the natural history and epidemiology of DCM remain unknown. In order to answer these, access to a large cohort of patients with DCM is required. With its unrivalled and efficient reach, the Internet has become an attractive tool for medical research and may overcome these limitations in DCM. The most effective recruitment strategy, however, is unknown. OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy of fee-based advertisement with alternative free recruitment strategies to a DCM Internet health survey. METHODS An Internet health survey (SurveyMonkey) accessed by a new DCM Internet platform (myelopathy.org) was created. Using multiple survey collectors and the website’s Google Analytics, the efficacy of fee-based recruitment strategies (Google AdWords) and free alternatives (including Facebook, Twitter, and myelopathy.org) were compared. RESULTS Overall, 760 surveys (513 [68%] fully completed) were accessed, 305 (40%) from fee-based strategies and 455 (60%) from free alternatives. Accounting for researcher time, fee-based strategies were more expensive ($7.8 per response compared to $3.8 per response for free alternatives) and identified a less motivated audience (Click-Through-Rate of 5% compared to 57% using free alternatives) but were more time efficient for the researcher (2 minutes per response compared to 16 minutes per response for free methods). Facebook was the most effective free strategy, providing 239 (31%) responses, where a single message to 4 existing communities yielded 133 (18%) responses within 7 days. CONCLUSIONS The Internet can efficiently reach large numbers of patients. Free and fee-based recruitment strategies both have merits. Facebook communities are a rich resource for Internet researchers.

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Improving Assessment of Disease Severity and Strategies for Monitoring Progression in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy [AO Spine RECODE DCM Research Priority Number 4]

Global Spine Journal ◽

10.1177/21925682211063854 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 219256822110638

Author(s):

Lindsay Tetreault ◽

Philip Garwood ◽

Aref-Ali Gharooni ◽

Alvaro Yanez Touzet ◽

Laura Nanna-Lohkamp ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Disease Progression ◽

Cervical Myelopathy ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Cervical Spinal Cord ◽

Research Priorities ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Common Data Elements ◽

Age Related ◽

Data Elements ◽

Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy

Study design Narrative Review. Objective To (i) discuss why assessment and monitoring of disease progression is critical in Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM); (ii) outline the important features of an ideal assessment tool and (iii) discuss current and novel strategies for detecting subtle deterioration in DCM. Methods Literature review Results Degenerative cervical myelopathy is an overarching term used to describe progressive injury to the cervical spinal cord by age-related changes of the spinal axis. Based on a study by Smith et al (2020), the prevalence of DCM is approximately 2.3% and is expected to rise as the global population ages. Given the global impact of this disease, it is essential to address important knowledge gaps and prioritize areas for future investigation. As part of the AO Spine RECODE-DCM (Research Objectives and Common Data Elements for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy) project, a priority setting partnership was initiated to increase research efficiency by identifying the top ten research priorities for DCM. One of the top ten priorities for future DCM research was: What assessment tools can be used to evaluate functional impairment, disability and quality of life in people with DCM? What instruments, tools or methods can be used or developed to monitor people with DCM for disease progression or improvement either before or after surgical treatment? Conclusions With the increasing prevalence of DCM, effective surveillance of this population will require both the implementation of a monitoring framework as well as the development of new assessment tools.

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Why Age and Aging Research Matters: A Chat With NIA Senior Leadership

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.3010 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 825-825

Author(s):

Marie Bernard

Keyword(s):

Human Services ◽

Research Priorities ◽

Health Department ◽

National Institutes Of Health ◽

Senior Leadership ◽

Aging Research ◽

Research Directions ◽

Lead Agency ◽

Department Of Health ◽

Significant Research

Abstract The National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, is the federally designated lead agency on aging research, and has supported significant research on aging as a life-long process. In the last five years, NIA experienced a tripling of its budget. Although much of this funding is targeted to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD related dementias (ADRD) research, there was an increase in funds allocated to non-AD research in keeping with the overall growth of NIH. This symposium will provide a forum for exploration of the implications of the budget increases for the general research community. It will involve NIA’s senior staff discussing research priorities and programs supported by the Institute. A question-and-answer session will follow brief introductory remarks on current funding and future priorities and research directions of NIA.

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