Malaysian Specialists’ Involvement in Research: Attitudes, Barriers and Facilitators

In Sabah, the research tradition still needs to be improved due to the need for more participation of specialists in the field of research. Their views and attitudes towards research still need to be improved and expanded. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the willingness of specialists to participate in research and their attitude towards research, as well as the barriers and facilitators in conducting research in government hospitals. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among specialists in three government hospitals in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah using self-administered questionnaires. A total of 49 specialists responded to the questionnaires distributed. Only 44.9% of respondents were involved in research. All the respondents thought that research was advantageous to both patients and society. However, lack of access to expertise, software or statistical analysis and too much red tape in obtaining approvals were among the top barriers to doing research. The main facilitators were to receive acknowledgement of research achievement for their career advancement. In conclusion, most specialists have a positive perception towards research, but more than half of them were not involved in any research during this study.