“He who pays the piper calls the tune”: Researcher experiences of funder suppression of health behaviour intervention trial findings

Background Governments commonly fund research with specific applications in mind. Such mechanisms may facilitate ‘research translation’ but funders may employ strategies that can also undermine the integrity of both science and government. We estimated the prevalence and investigated correlates of funder efforts to suppress health behaviour intervention trial findings. Methods Our sampling frame was lead or corresponding authors of papers (published 2007–2017) included in a Cochrane review, reporting findings from trials of interventions to improve nutrition, physical activity, sexual health, smoking, and substance use. Suppression events were based on a previous survey of public health academics. Participants answered questions concerning seven suppression events in their efforts to report the trial, e.g., [I was…] “asked to suppress certain findings as they were viewed as being unfavourable.” We also examined the association between information on study funder, geographical location, targeted health behaviour, country democracy rating and age of publication with reported suppression. Findings We received responses from 104 authors (50%) of 208 eligible trials, from North America (34%), Europe (33%), Oceania (17%), and other countries (16%). Eighteen percent reported at least one of the seven suppression events relating to the trial in question. The most commonly reported suppression event was funder(s) expressing reluctance to publish because they considered the results ‘unfavourable’ (9% reported). We found no strong associations with the subject of research, funding source, democracy, region, or year of publication. Conclusions One in five researchers in this global sample reported being pressured to delay, alter, or not publish the findings of health behaviour intervention trials. Regulation of funder and university practices, establishing study registries, and compulsory disclosure of funding conditions in scientific journals, are needed to protect the integrity of public-good research.

AGRICULTURAL SECTION OF THE STATE COMMISSION FOR ELECTRIFICATION OF RUSSIA

The author examines the results of the work of the agricultural section of the State Commission for Electrification of Russia (GOELRO) presented in the report to the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets in 1920, restores the personal composition of the section and its members’ contribution to elaboration of the project. The methodological basis of the work is the concept of technological revolutions by K. Perez, applied to the analysis of the problem of the relationship between science and government in 1918-1920.

545. The Impact of COVID-19 on African Americans’ Health Attitudes and Information Seeking Behavior

Background African-Americans suffer a disproportionate impact from COVID-19, comprising about 24% of deaths while representing 13% of the US population. We conducted a study to understand COVID-19’s impact on African-Americans’ health attitudes. Methods In April 2020, we surveyed online a national sample of US adults on their health attitudes and behaviors before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Comparisons were analyzed using chi-squared tests. Results A total of 2,544 individuals completed the survey: 473 African-Americans, 282 Hispanics and 1,799 Caucasians responded. The mean ages of each group were 41.4 ± 11 years, 38.0 ± 11 years and 45.7 ± 13 years, respectively. Before COVID-19, African-Americans were least likely to report they had trust in science (53% vs. 68% for Hispanics and 77% for Caucasians; p< .01) and government (16% vs. 27% and 28%; p< .01). After COVID-19, the percentage of African-Americans who had trust in science and government fell further to 44% (p< .01) and 9% (p< .01), respectively, and remained significantly lower than the other two groups. Twice as many African-Americans vs. Caucasians stopped following science and health news after COVID-19 (9% vs. 4%, p< .01). The percentage of African-Americans who reported anxiety about their health rose from 30% pre-COVID to 53% after the outbreak (p< .01), and the percentage who reported anxiety about their family members’ health rose from 35% to 61% (p< .01). Only 25% of African-Americans surveyed agreed that if they contracted COVID-19, they were confident they would get the healthcare needed. Conclusion After COVID-19, African-Americans’ trust in science and government fell and a meaningful percentage stopped following science and health news, possibly reducing access to important health information. The percentage of African-Americans reporting anxiety about the future, about their health and about their family members’ health all increased significantly after COVID-19. Only a minority of African-Americans agreed they would get the needed healthcare if they contracted COVID-19. These findings have implications for the mental health and behavioral impacts of COVID-19 on African-Americans and for the development of health communications to high-disease-incidence populations. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

RURAL TOURISM AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING THE RURAL ECONOMY OF THE REGION

The article discusses the development of rural tourism. Attention is drawn to the forms and methods of promoting services in this sphere of tourism, which is especially important during a period of growing relevance of domestic tourism and a change in the paradigm of recreation. The authors point out that the promotion of rural tourism should be associated not only with the search for technical methods of promotion, but also with a change in the socio-cultural paradigm of perception of rural tourism as a sphere of organization of recreation and recreation. The authors attach great importance to rural tourism as a business sector capable of exerting a positive influence on the rural economy in the conditions of a general crisis in rural areas and the degradation of rural settlements. Today as never before conservation of rural space as economically active and socially sustainable is the most important task. This is especially true for the Altai Territory. The agrarian-industrial region is experiencing serious economic and social problems related both to changes in the structure of the regional economy and degradation of rural areas. One of the tools tactive for optimizing the state of rural areas in the Altai Region can be rural tourism, which is actively developing and requires high attention from both science and government agencies, the sphere of activity.

ISLAMISASI ILMU PENGETAHUAN MENURUT ISMAIL RAJI AL-FARUQI

The idea of Islamization was triggered by a dichotomy. This dichotomy is not only extendsin the realm of science, but also extends in domain of religion in the context of state. From the first dichotomy generated the stigma of religious and general knowledge, while from the second dichotomy, it caused a secular attitude. As a result of this dichotomy, most Muslims keep far themselves from general science and government which results in their backwardness in the development of science and technology. On the other hand, Islam itself has the concept of tauhid in its faith. This concept was used as the foundation by Ismail Raji al-Faruqi in carrying out and succeeding the idea of Islamization of science in order to catch up Muslims’ backwardness for centuries