Objective

To identify the gaps in pediatric research regarding the origin of financing, the studies conducted without the ethical approval of the national regulatory body, the research topics concerning healthcare needs, and the study type.

Materials and methods

A descriptive and observational study based on secondary sources of information was conducted to identify pediatric research projects developed in the Dominican Republic from 2005 to 2018. Such projects included a population between 0 and 17 years of age, regardless of the sponsor, institution in charge of the research and country region.

Results

From all research conducted with national funds, health research accounted for 17 %, out of which 7.5 % was related to children. Health research carried out with international funds accounted for 40.9 %. However, the total number of research projects was lower than the number of research conducted with national funds. Thirty eight point nine percent (38.9 %) of the clinical trials included in the Clinical Trials registry were related to pediatric research, out of which 64.6 % were sponsored by private institutions.

Conclusions

We found discrepancies between the research topics urged by our country and those sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry or national/international funds. Moreover, clinical trials were conducted without the pertinent ethical approval of the national regulatory body.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )